In Our Veins 1: Adulthood Issues
by Higuchimon
Summary: [posting hiatus until further notice; au: breeds; non epilogue compliant] They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.
1. Catalyst

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 1: Catalyst  
**Characters:** Chosen Children  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,636||story: 2,636  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** [1/40 chapters, In Our Veins #1, Chosen Children, Diversity Writing Challenge, no epilogue, au: breeds] Just when everything looked normal, everything and more changed.

* * *

"Ice Spear!" SeaDramon's attack blasted toward the Chosen, ignoring their partners all together. The four of them dodged out of the way, Miyako and Iori managing to make it to safety, while Ken leaped backward, natural grace allowing him to take refuge in a concealing tree.

Daisuke, on the other hand, slammed his back into a tree trunk. He groaned, shaking his head in an attempt to clear it. "Did we get him?" He muttered, looking around to get any kind of glimpse of the battlefield.

"Not even close," a voice as frigid as SeaDramon's attack spoke up from far too close. All four of the Chosen looked toward it, knowing what they would find, and not liking it.

Michael stood there, SeaDramon's head resting next to him, emotionless eyes focused on their group. He said nothing at all, but tapped his partner's head, and stepped to the side. SeaDramon drew in a long breath and prepared to send another Ice Spear toward them.

"Critical Crunch!" XV-mon's teeth closed down hard on SeaDramon's jaws, jerking him to the side with all of his strength. He wrapped his arms around their enemy, keeping him in place, shoulders bunched and tensed.

Daisuke and Ken knew what was going to come next. Neither would go so far as to say they'd set it up, but they'd used this tactic before.

"Spiking Finish!" Stingmon dropped from above, slamming his spike only a single breath away from SeaDramon's neck. Neither of them wanted to kill him, for a multitude of reasons, only one of which was Michael being there.

"How dare you!" The blond shouted, or at least tried to. He didn't seem able to dredge up that much emotion. "Release him."

"Leave here," Ken said, jumping down to stand beside Daisuke. "We don't want to hurt you, Michael."

Michael looked only mildly annoyed. Every emotion he could have remained damped down, as if he were only going through the motions. "I want to hurt you."

"No, you don't," Ken shook his head, eyes flicking to the slim band that wrapped around SeaDramon's tail. "You only want that because of Shihaimon."

"Is there a difference?" Michael didn't even sound as if he cared. Not a single emotion could make its way completely through the Dark Band's effect. Ken ached to get his hands on one and see what he could do to reverse engineer it. Maybe if he could, he could find a way to destroy them without the ...other side effects.

Daisuke took a few hurried steps forward, fists clenching. "You know there is! You wouldn't do this if she wasn't telling you to!"

"But she is. And therefore, I will do it." Michael started to reach toward SeaDramon again, stopping when XV-mon and Stingmon both moved closer to him. "Release us."

"Only if you promise to leave," Iori said, he and Miyako coming closer. "We really _don't_ want to hurt you, Michael-san."

For a brief moment, Michael's eyes grew distant, and colder than ever before. None of the Chosen moved, until what life he had in him returned. "Very well. Shihaimon-sama orders me to return."

Ken refused to let a flicker of unease show. Shihaimon seldom pulled her warriors back from battle, and if Michael and SeaDramon pressed it, they could possibly do severe damage. Or worse, cause the Chosen to do damage to _them_.

But now Michael stepped back, and at the nods from Ken and Daisuke, XV-mon and Stingmon released SeaDramon, who slithered alongside of his partner as they faded away into the shadows of the digital forest.

Only after they'd been gone a complete ten minutes did any of the four relax for so much as a heartbeat. Daisuke flopped against the nearest tree and sighed. "Well, that sucked."

No one felt inclined to argue against him. Miyako duplicated his pose against a different tree and shook her head. "At least we didn't have to..." She didn't need to finish the sentence. The glaring memory of what had happened to others in this situation wasn't ever far from their minds.

Iori didn't look any more sanguine about the situation than the others did. "Did you manage to get any scans on the Dark Band?"

Ken pulled out a small hand-held device, a little larger than their D-3s, but not color-coded as those were. "A few, but I don't know how much good they'll do. I couldn't get the full range I wanted."

He didn't have the narrow focus and intense fury that he'd possessed as the Digimon Kaiser, resulting in what appeared as near-genius intellect, but he remembered how to do certain things, and with Miyako and Koushirou to help, he _knew_ he could work out how to fix this. If he were given time. If Shihaimon would give them that time.

He doubted that she would. Her goals were nothing more nor less than the complete destruction of all of the Chosen, and that meant _not_ giving them a chance to do anything to stop her.

Daisuke pushed himself up from his lounging position, taking in a long, deep breath. "Well, I don't think there's anything else we can do here today. Who wants to go home?"

Three other hands, along with whatever appendages their partners had as Armadimon and Hawkmon joined the gathering, rose into the air. Ken wanted to pass this information on to Koushirou and hoped that something useful could come of it, even from incomplete scans.

One by one they headed toward the nearest portal set, glad as always that Shihaimon either didn't know what they were or saw no purpose in destroying them. At least not yet. Ken dreaded the day when she would actually do so.

* * *

As the Chosen and Digimon vanished out of sight, Michael watched from his hiding place. He could still feel the presence of his mistress in the back of his mind, and as it grew more intense, he dropped down to his knees. She might not be there with him physically but she lived in his mind at all times.

"Shihaimon-sama?"

**You have done well, my servant.** Her soft, dulcet voice purred in the recesses of his mind. **I am very proud of you.**

Michael could not feel happy. He could feel only the pride of having served her so well. "It is my pleasure, Shihaimon-sama."

**The others have accomplished their tasks. Return home at once.**

He bent his head more deeply. "As you wish, Shihaimon-sama." He knew full well that his battle against the Chosen today had been but a distraction. What mattered was that they did not know it. Not until it was too late for them to do anything at all about it.

* * *

"Are you certain of this, my friend?"

"Yes. I had hoped that it would not become necessary. After BelialVamdemon, everything seemed to point in the direction of peace."

"Don't I know it. But if Shihaimon continues, then they'll _need_ to be awakened to stop her."

"As I am aware. I have already begun what I must."

"They won't like it when they find out."

"They will adjust. They will not have a choice. They are who they are. They are _what_ they are."

"I know. I just wish this wasn't necessary. They could've gone on without knowing."

"Not all of them. Akigaramon would need to know, sooner or later."

"I've never liked that name."

"It's all that we have for him, for now. When he becomes more than that, then he'll know his true name."

"Do you know what it is?"

"No. But he will."

"Our world is a strange one, old friend."

"And it will be much stranger, very soon."

* * *

Having all twelve Chosen Children and their partners gathered together required space. There weren't many places indoors where they could all gather, which was why they settled in a park relatively close to where they all lived. 'Close' in this case meaning that the only two who had to worry about leaving early were Mimi and Ken.

"So what happened?" Taichi leaned over to grab one of the bags of chips Miyako had brought with her, offering a few to Agumon as soon as he opened it. "We didn't get a lot of information from you guys earlier."

"It wasn't that much. Michael and SeaDramon showed up, we fought a little, and then he left," Miyako said, stirring one finger in the pile of junk food, but not sampling any of it herself. She glanced for a moment at Mimi, whose attention seemed far off and distracted.

No one blamed her. Not with Michael having lived under Shihaimon's control for the last six weeks.

Miyako wanted to reassure her that they would get him back, but neither of them were the type that went for comforting lies. She knew they both wanted to do that, but they didn't know how. No one did.

Koushirou stared down at the device Ken had offered to him shortly after they'd all gathered, reading the information there. "Some of this looks familiar, but I can't pin down exactly what or how. There isn't enough here." He shook his head in frustration.

"Are you sure it isn't..." Ken bit his lip hard and Koushirou shook his head again, but this time with different meaning.

"It's nothing to do with the Rings or Spirals. I'm certain of that much. The information is familiar, but not in that way."

Daisuke wriggled himself into a more comfortable position against the tree he'd chosen to relax himself against. "So what else can we do? We can't just blow those bands off, since that would kill them."

"We've just gotten lucky that she hasn't tried to outnumber us," Iori said. "And that luck could run out at any time."

No one wanted to think about that. It was a thing they needed to keep in mind, but _thinking_ about it for too long promised nightmares.

Yamato traced a faint design in the moss underneath him. "Has anyone heard anything from Gennai yet?"

All eyes turned toward Koushirou. The redhead shook his head, hints of worry written across his features. "I haven't received so much as an e-mail from him since...since just before Shihaimon started her attacks, actually."

Daisuke tilted his head up, brow furrowed. "You don't think she had anything to do with that, do you?"

"I don't know. I'm planning on going to his place this weekend to find out what I can."

Yamato nodded at once. "I'll go with you."

"Me too," Sora agreed. "The sooner we find out what's going on, the better."

Taichi toyed with a stick he'd picked up, stabbing it into the ground. "I wish she'd just come out and face us head-on. It feels like she's waiting for something and if we let it happen, we're not going to like it."

"We don't have any other options at the moment," Takeru reminded him. "She's concealing her base somehow, and with Michael, Noriko, and Catherine on her side, she has people who can fight us and we can't fight back as well as we should."

If it had been a simple case of Adult level Digimon against other Adult levels, all of the Chosen knew that they would have come out successful in the end. But when those enemies were fellow Chosen and their partners, enslaved by a force that made the Kaiser's Rings and Spirals seem like nothing more than a child's toy, then battles were much less certain.

"I know." Taichi stabbed harder. "I thought it was over, you know. I thought we were finally going to get some peace. And it would last for a while. Like, maybe until we were all grown up. Or forever."

Yamato shook his head. "I wish it had." A sentiment that they all shared. "But we'll stop her. Sooner or later."

"I hope it's sooner," Hikari murmured, ducking her head down. Tailmon rested one gloved paw on her partner's arm, being as soothing as possible. Hikari had gone out of her way to make certain that those people who now had Digimon partners could learn how to be good friends to them, and seeing their friends turned on them did not make for pleasant days.

Jou dusted his hands off, pulling himself to his feet. "If no one else has anything they need to report, then I think we should all go get some rest. It's getting late."

"Aw, don't you ever want to just hang out these days?" Gomamon asked, peering up his partner with wide eyes. "You're always so busy!"

"Of course I'm busy!" Jou rolled his eyes. "I'm going to the Digital World this weekend to give everyone at the Village of Beginnings their checkup."

Continuing their amused bickering, the two headed toward the nearest bus stop. Ken watched them go, a hint of concern in his eyes. "I think I should go there too," he muttered to himself. No one argued; there had already been too many times since Shihaimon's arrival where one of them ended up being jumped if they were on their own. So far as they knew, that was what had happened to their other friends. It was bad enough that it happened at all, but to have it happen to those whose partners could achieve the higher evolutions and cause that much more destruction? Not a pleasant thought at all.

"Jun wants to come help out," Daisuke said after a few moments. "I keep telling her that Elecmon's not ready for it yet. He can't even evolve reliably!"

A smile tugged at Ken's lips. "I'm sure they'll work it out." All of them remembered the shock of finding that Jun, Momoe, Chizuru, and Shuu ended up gaining partners. Jun hadn't stopped grinning for a week after Elecmon's egg landed in her lap.

Daisuke still hadn't gotten over it. But he was working on it. Kind of. When he had nothing better to do with his time.

"She should probably stick with the others if she wants to try it," Yamato advised. "We're stronger in groups anyway."

"I'll tell her but I don't know if she wants to listen." Daisuke sighed a long and heartfelt sigh. "You know how stubborn she can be."

Yamato's lips twitched. "I know. Oh, I know."

Daisuke shrugged before he stretched and reached to pick up V-mon. "Come on, buddy, I'm going to make you some extra special ramen. You really did great today." He glanced over at Wormmon. "I can make some for you too if you want? You were great too."

Wormmon, curled up on Ken's lap, shook his head, eyes half-closed. "Kind of tired right now. Thank you, Daisuke, though."

"I'll make you something when we get home." Ken rested one hand on Wormmon's head, smiling down at his partner. "Promise."

Wormmon nuzzled closer, contentment in every line of his body. Daisuke watched for a moment, then waved to everyone else and headed away, chattering to V-mon about what kind of ramen he could make and what he would do to Shihaimon the first chance that he got. Ken let himself listen as long as he could, until Daisuke had gone too far for him to hear.

Only then did he realize there were people looking at him: three of them, in fact. Yamato, Taichi, and Takeru all gave him quite nearly identical amused looks. Ken refused to think he was blushing, instead just scrambling to his feet and brushing himself off as Wormmon wriggled to rest behind his neck.

"Good-bye," he managed to blurt out before hurrying away as quickly as he could manage. Shihaimon wasn't the only topic that he didn't want to talk about. She was just the only one he thought he could do anything about.

**To Be Continued**


	2. Warning

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 2: Warning  
**Characters:** Chosen Children  
**Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,679||story: 5,315  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.

* * *

Koushirou checked his e-mail once again and shook his head, lifting his gaze to meet Yamato and Sora's eyes in turn. "Nothing at all still." He glanced ahead of them to where Gennai's home rested nestled in a small valley. "Everything seems quiet, though."

"Too quiet?" Yamato asked, one hand tensed around his Digivice. Gabumon remained next to him, sniffing the air, and looked up his partner, worrying gleaming in the depths of his eyes.

"Gennai was here, but it was a while ago. At least a few days," the sharp-nosed Digimon reported. "No one else has been around here since then, though."

The three Chosen glanced among themselves, then all turned toward the house. "Let's see what we can find out in there," Sora said, rubbing her arms. Yamato noticed the motion.

"Are you all right?" It wasn't all that cold here, since Gennai's home currently rested in a very tropical area of the Digital World. So something else had to be the matter.

Sora only smiled, though, and shook her head in negation. "It's fine. I just feel a little ... tingly, I guess?"

"Tingly?" Yamato repeated the word as if he'd never said it before. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged this time, confusion in her tone. "I don't know what else to call it. I'm tingling all over, like ...like pins and needles."

The six of them kept on toward Gennai's place as they spoke, their partners all watching for any kind of trouble. Koushirou kept his attention on his laptop, ready for anything that might turn up as well.

"When did that get started?" Yamato worried about Sora. He worried about all of his friends, in truth. Sora, like Taichi, was one he worried about just a little fraction more than the others, for a multitude of reasons.

Again Sora shrugged. "When we got here. It's nothing, really. Maybe I'm coming down with a cold."

In truth, she didn't sound all that certain, but tingling was hardly a sign of the impending apocalypse, nor did Shihaimon use biological weapons, and he knew one or two remedies that might help her with the cold if that's what it was. Yamato made a note to pick up some as soon as they were done here.

"This is strange," Koushirou said, drawing everyone else's attention in a heartbeat. "The closer we get to Gennai's, the more I'm picking up an unusual signal. I'd almost say it's like an e-mail alert, but that's not what it is."

"Then what is it?" Yamato asked, tilting his head back.

Koushirou stared down at his laptop's screen. He'd gone to a lot of effort over the last few years to keep it at the peak of performance, especially with everything they went through. But still he couldn't pin down this alert, whatever it was.

"I don't know." He hated saying those words. He knew he couldn't know everything, but with the whole situation with Shihaimon worried him, and the more information they had, the better able they all would be to deal with it.

Sora looked over at the door. Gennai normally stood there by the time they arrived, or was out in the garden. They never, ever got this far without him being aware they were there, but this time, the door remained closed, and there was a definite air of 'no one's home'.

She couldn't tell if Koushirou were aware of this or not, but he came up to the door and started to knock on it nevertheless.

"Gennai! Gennai, are you there?" There was an edge of worry to his tone as he knocked a little faster with each word. After a few more knocks, the door slipped open, and all of them stared for a few moments.

Yamato glanced at Gabumon, who hurried over the door and took in a long breath of air. He shook his head at once. "There's no one inside."

"You must've knocked the lock off or something," Yamato suggested, but pushed the door wider carefully, looking around. "Maybe we can find a clue?"

None of them much relished the idea of looking around someone else's home without their knowledge or permission, but this qualified under 'special circumstances'. Gennai gone, Shihaimon's depredations growing worse every time; they needed to do something, and this was all they could for now.

One by one they entered, all the Digimon with their senses alert, and the humans ready to evolve their partners at a moment's notice.

The tingling under Sora's skin hadn't faded at all, and she thought it got a little worse once she stepped inside. She tried to put it out of her mind, shaking her head to herself. They had so much more important matters to worry about than some kind of skin rash or whatever the problem was.

She couldn't see a rash, though, and the more she looked around, the more it lurked in the back of her mind. What if Shihaimon really was responsible somehow? None of them knew what it felt like to be under her control. What if this were it?

No. She still could think of Shihaimon as an enemy, and that wouldn't be the case if she were controlled.

Unless Shihaimon wanted her to think that.

Sora wasn't one to swear, but the more this nagged and worried at her, the more she wanted to, just to have some way to vent her frustrations. Something really was wrong, and it was more than just the fact Gennai was gone and three of their friends weren't their friends anymore.

Gennai's house changed shape and form every so often, and it definitely looked different from the last time she remembered being here. She didn't know if it confused Koushirou or Yamato as well, but they kept on checking every door and room as if they were used to it. She could spy something that looked like a house plan on Koushirou's laptop screen, and after a few moments of watching, she realized he was using that to make certain they got every room in their search. Good thinking there.

"That alert is coming from in here." Koushirou announced it with a touch of dread to his voice. They'd stopped outside of a closed door and Yamato reached out to open it. Before he got very far, the three Digimon moved up closer, arranging themselves so they had room enough to evolve if it became necessary.

Once everyone was in position, Yamato opened the door wider. His right hand clenched and unclenched as he did, some part of his mind wishing that he had some weapon of his own to fight with. He trusted Gabumon to have his back always, but the thought of being able to defend himself and his friends never completely left his mind.

Gabumon sniffed yet again. "Nothing." He entered the room, Yamato only a step or two behind him, the others following.

The room itself had little in it save for a few scattered pieces of furniture. Gabumon checked them all, then stopped at one cushioned chair, staring harder. "Yamato," he said, not looking at his partner. "There's a different scent here. Not Gennai's."

All of them hovered on the verge of alert. "Who's is it?" Yamato asked, voice taut and harsh. Was this the clue that they'd been searching for? And if so, what kind of a clue was it?

Gabumon took another sniff and a harder look before he looked to Tentomon and Piyomon. Both of them came over to check with him, murmuring among themselves too low for the humans to hear what they were talking about. Finally Gabumon looked back up.

"There's a scent of a Leomon here."

Silence fell harder than ever among them all. While they knew that more than one Digimon could follow the same evolutionary path, none of them had seen or heard of another Leomon since the one they'd known on File Island passed. Whether he'd been reborn or not remained unknown. But that a Leomon had visited Gennai at all sent sudden shards of hope into their hearts. To think that their friend might somehow have returned...

Piyomon twitched her wings. "Is there anything else? The Leomon scent isn't very strong, so it could've been a long time ago."

Sora took a look over the room herself, not expecting anything at all to catch her eye. Something did, however, and she moved over to pluck it from the crack where it lay hidden.

A folded slip of parchment, nothing more, lay in her hand, and expecting little more than Gennai's grocery list, she unfolded it from mild curiosity.

_Greetings, Chosen Children._

Her jaw dropped. The prickling in her skin grew even worse. Koushirou stared at her and the paper. "That's Gennai's handwriting," he said after a quick check.

"What else does it say?" Yamato wanted to know. Sora cleared her throat and started again.

_Greetings, Chosen Children. I wish that I didn't have to communicate with you like this, but any other method stood too much of a chance for Shihaimon to find it. She'd not able to find my home, however, so this note was safe to leave. I knew you'd come here sooner or later. I hope it's sooner._

I hope that you don't hate me or certain others for what's going to happen. None of us planned any of this. But you are the Chosen Children and I trust that you will make it through. You always have before.

As much as I would like to, I cannot tell you what is going to happen in detail. But what I can tell you is this: some of you do not know the full truth of who you are. Which ones, I'm not allowed to say. But there are seven of you who will soon find out a deep secret about yourselves. Those seven will be in great danger, more so than you usually are.

Koushirou, I'm certain you're one of those who are here. Scan this note into your laptop and your Digimon Analyzer will be modified to assist you in what is to come. You'll understand when the Awakening begins. You won't see me until after you've all Awakened. Shihaimon must not be aware of what is going on until the last possible moment.

I wish all of you the best of luck. You're going to need it.

Signed, Gennai.

Half a dozen pairs of eyes exchanged very confused glances. Almost on instinct, Koushirou accepted the parchment from Sora and began to scan it in, while chewing over Gennai's words.

"What in the _hell_ did he mean by all of that?" Yamato asked the one question on all of their minds. "Did any of that make any sense to any of you or am I the only one wondering?"

Sora shook her head. "I didn't understand it either." She rubbed the side of her head, wishing she didn't feel so much like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. It might be easier to think this through if she weren't being so distracted.

"We'll show it to the others," Koushirou said, typing up a quick copy of the message into his laptop. "Maybe one of them can see something in there that we didn't."

Yamato nodded; that was likely the best idea that they could manage at the moment. The idea that whatever was going on was something they would need to keep from Shihaimon didn't sit well with him at all.

_This could be something that could help stop her, or if she finds out what it is, she could turn it on us._ Maybe a new evolution? So far as they all knew, Digimon evolution stopped at the Ultimate level. If something lay beyond that, then none of them knew how to get there. Though Gennai's words didn't seem to really mean that, since he'd spoken more about the Chosen than their partners.

Once Koushirou's laptop finished the new changes and the parchment had been copied, there was only one thing for them to do: go back home and let everyone else know what was going on. At least two of them.

"I'm going to stay here for a while," Sora said, scratching her arm. She took a closer look, expecting to see at least a bug bite or something. It had to be something, but all that she saw was her normal skin. _Did I eat something bad?_ "I want to talk to Piyomon about something."

Koushirou and Yamato both nodded; Koushirou clearly more focused on the note and what it could bode for the future, and Yamato with his own thoughts that he kept to himself until he knew how to express them all properly.

Piyomon looked every bit as curious as the proverbial cat as she and Sora walked away from the others. This wasn't something they normally did, not since all of their routines had been broken up by Shihaimon's arrival. Sora couldn't argue that she didn't miss that old closeness.

"What's bothering you, Sora?" Piyomon wanted to know as soon as they weren't close enough to the others to risk being overheard.

Sora wasn't surprised that Piyomon knew something _was_ bothering her. They were too close to each other for her partner not to guess it. At least neither Yamato nor Koushirou figured out there was something else on her mind beyond their mission. She wasn't certain if she could've told them what the problem was. Absently scratching again, she tried to find the words to say what was on her mind.

"Could I stay with you for a few days? My parents are going to spend some time together, and I think I should find somewhere else to stay." She hated how that sounded. She usually loved spending time around both of them, especially since her dad loved hearing stories about the Digital World, but this time was different.

From the way Piyomon looked at her, the pink bird knew something more than what she'd said was up as well. She didn't ask for more details, but Sora decided to tell her anyway. Piyomon deserved as much of the truth as she herself knew.

"It's almost their anniversary, and it's the first time in about five years they've had a chance to spend it together. Every other time, either Mom was working or Dad was doing research somewhere and couldn't leave it." She fidgeted, tilting her head back a little to stare at the sky overhead. She had a feeling if she looked at Piyomon, her partner would be giving her a 'are you being silly, Sora?' look. She probably was being silly. But she didn't need to see that look.

"This time, she's _not_ working and he isn't either, and he's home, and I _know_ they want some time to themselves. And that means that I can't be there." She found a tiny scrap of a smile on her lips. "I don't really want to bother any of the others, though. They don't have that much space anyway."

Piyomon leaned against her. "Of course you can stay. You didn't even have to ask."

Sora smiled, reaching down to once more ruffle her old friend's feathers. "Of course I did. How would you like it if I just turned up without warning?"

"I'd make room for you." Piyomon told her with such honest understanding that Sora wanted to hug her close. She did hope that she could find some time to spend with her parents, but not until their anniversary had actually ended. Up until then, it would be better if she made herself scarce.

Besides, she grumbled in the depths of her mind, maybe by then whatever it was that itched under her skin like this would've passed. She didn't want them wondering about her when it was likely nothing that couldn't be taken care of with the right lotion.

"Piyomon, you don't happen to have something that'll fix an itch, do you?"

**To Be Continued**


	3. Planning

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 3: Planning  
**Characters:** Chosen Children  
**Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,660||story: 7,975  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.

* * *

"And you say no sign of Gennai anywhere?" Shihaimon knew that her servant could not lie to her. None of them could; her tendrils were far too firmly set into each and every one of them. If her power did not control them, then she had other means to ensure their honesty and their obedience.

It was who she was, after all: the Digimon who could control and command anyone. Set into her very name.

"None, my queen," the nameless Digimon before her murmured, not lifting his face from where he bent in subservience. He probably _had_ a name; she'd just never asked what it was. Nor did she care. Names were for those who mattered, not for peons who existed only to do her will.

She dismissed him with a slight gesture, both from her presence and her awareness as she turned her thoughts inward. Gennai missing was not a turn of events that she relished. He knew too much, about her and about those pesky Odaiba Chosen.

Those were the ones she truly wanted to get her hooks into. If she could turn them against each other, serving her will in all things, then her conquest of this world would be complete in a matter of days. Perhaps even less. The Chosen Twelve held the greatest power of evolution and she ached to have it turned to her side.

The lesser Chosen she'd claimed were useful, but not nearly as much as those who bore the power of the Crests or the Digimentals. Having the three she'd chosen at her service made those twelve hold back in combat, which was not what she wanted at all.

Doing so made it easier to smooth some of her plans, however, and so she did not press the matter. Not yet. In due time, she would push them to the point they would have to do something to try to keep her at bay.

They would fail, of course, but that would be what led to her victory. She'd already planned for that. They probably thought they had ways to get around that. They would find out they were wrong about those.

But once again, the thought of Gennai's mysterious disappearance disturbed her. _Why?_ Why would he choose to disappear now, when his students would need all of his advice and wisdom while fighting her? Did he think that little of what she could do?

_No. That can't be it._ Her eyes narrowed as she considered the situation anew. _He wouldn't leave them like that, no matter how much he trusts them._

And that led to the simple fact that he had something else in mind. She needed to know what that something else was. She prided herself on knowing everything about her enemies; that was the essence of control: knowledge.

Her fingers drummed against the ice-white skin of her cheek. There were other beings in the Digital World who held great power and wisdom, who knew secrets long hidden. If Gennai intended to keep himself out of this fight, then she would see to it that they did not.

* * *

Jou did not object to Ken accompanying him on his visit to the Village of Beginnings that weekend. Ken wanted to make himself as useful as he could; while none of them really wanted to be alone with the risks of Shihaimon's attacks coming at any moment, he still wanted to be something more than a bodyguard.

They'd no sooner walked into the village than one of the Poyomon spied them and sent up a loud, happy trill that bounced around until every hatchling, whether they'd met Jou or Ken or not, surged toward them in a flood of thrilled sounds.

"I think they're glad to see you," Ken murmured, since most of them thronged around Jou. While the young Digimon he'd met on his trip here to find Wormmon had gone on to villages of their own, and most of the ones he ran into these days knew him far better as the Chosen of Kindness than as the evil Digimon Kaiser, he still never felt entirely comfortable around the young ones.

_I keep thinking of how easy it would be to start all over again. Only this time, I would know what not to do, and who to take out first._

Those thoughts had passed for a time after the defeat of BelialVamdemon, and he'd been convinced for years that they would stay gone. He'd moved on. He wasn't going to be that person anymore.

And yet now and then, when his guard slipped for a moment or two, he found himself analyzing his friends, thinking of how he could get them alone and break them to his will, in a fashion far more permanent than the most evil of Evil Rings or Spirals.

It got worse when he was around Daisuke. Especially when it was just the two of them. Which made every other thought he'd also begun to have about the redhead that much worse.

_Maybe it's just hormones? Maybe that's affecting the Spore somehow?_ He wanted to think that. He wanted to _believe_ that with every ounce of his heart and soul. If that was all it was, then he could talk to Jou or Koushirou about it, or both of them, and they could all figure out some way to put a stop to it. Hormone suppressants or something. Though finding ones that could do the job he wanted them to do and not harm him would be even more difficult.

The press of Wormmon's pod-foot against his leg brought his attention out of himself, and Ken looked to see a small collection of hatchlings looking up at him. Jou tapped him on the shoulder.

"Could you keep them entertained while they're waiting for me? I shouldn't be too long."

Ken blinked, pulling his focus more into the here and now. So far as he knew, Jou didn't have any idea about what was going on in his mind or heart, which was also one of the reasons he'd come here with him. It made it so much easier to focus when he didn't have to worry about someone asking him questions that he didn't know the answers to.

"Sure thing," he agreed, looking back at the hatchlings. "Well, what would you like to do? I didn't bring a soccer ball with me." Maybe he should have. Daisuke would've thought of that.

He really needed to stop thinking about Daisuke like that. He would like to stop thinking about him at all, at least as anything aside from his best friend, but Daisuke had a way of worming himself into someone's thoughts without even trying. It was one of the things he found himself growing to...

Well, now he had hatchlings to entertain and one of them, a Punimon, bounced up and down eagerly. "I wanna hear a story! Tell us a story!"

The demand for a story spread to each and every one of them, and Ken couldn't have resisted them. This was another reason he didn't come here often. He didn't have enough stories to tell.

But now he settled himself down on the soft grass, within sight of Jou on one side and the Elecmon who took care of this place to the other, and he racked his brain for something to tell.

"Tell us about the evil Digimon Kaiser!" Another hatchling declared, rapidly bouncing. "And how he got beaten up by the Chosen Children!"

Of course. Why wasn't he surprised they asked for more stories like this? But that wasn't one he wanted to tell, not just yet.

"I don't know," he hedged a little, trying to think of some other story he could tell. "What would you think of...the story of the loyal Wormmon?" He flicked his gaze to his partner, who was already a little more red than green from what he'd said.

That got even more approving cheers than the first suggestion, and thus Ken began to spin the tale of the most wonderful Digimon partner ever, a Wormmon loyal to the point of death and beyond.

* * *

Jou tried not to laugh as he heard Ken's story unfolding. He needed to focus his attention on the hatchling in his lap and the ones lined up neatly waiting for their turn. Once he finished with this group, he knew, they would go join Ken while the next group came for him.

"You guys really do trust people, don't you?" A very familiar voice spoke up from behind him. Jou didn't look away from where he was tending to a small scrape on a Relemon's tail.

"There's nothing wrong with that," he said, checking the little puffball over carefully. "There you go!"

Relemon giggled, bouncing off him and sniffing around for a few moments before zipping away to the circle of Digimon listening to Ken's story. Jou watched, not at all surprised to see the small creature turn into a miniature Wormmon.

Still with a golden fox-like tail, however.

He turned a little to look at Ogremon, who leaned against one of the soft building blocks that made up the structures around here. "Have you seen any sign of him?"

Ogremon shifted his bone club and shook his head. For years now he'd lived at the Village of Beginnings, searching for any sign of Leomon. Jou didn't know why the brave warrior hadn't been reborn, but Ogremon wouldn't leave until he found his old enemy one more time.

"Have you seen anything interesting around here?" Jou asked, going back to taking care of the next hatchling that jumped into his lap. Ogremon made a fearsome guard for the Village and if Shihaimon came anywhere near it, he would know.

Now, however, he shook his head again. "I know you guys have been having trouble. But she hasn't come around here at all."

"Good." The Village of Beginnings tended to be a no battle zone as it was anyway. The only ones he knew of who'd ever done anything to it had been the Dark Masters, and he still didn't know if they'd done it on purpose or if it had been a side effect of what they'd done to the Digital World. He could hardly ask them, either.

When the stream of patients died down a little, Jou leaned back against a tree and wiped his forehead. Gomamon, who acted as his assistant, now laid down next to him as well.

"There're a lot of those little ones," he murmured. The whole group now crowded around Ken, demanding more stories, different stories, and wanting to know if Daisuke would be there soon to play with them. _He_ never forgot the soccer ball, he heard one Punimon mutter to another.

"I still can't believe all the Digimon in the world come from here," Jou said, eyeing them all. "It doesn't feel like it's possible."

"There are a few Digimon who come from other places," Ogremon said, not moving from his place. "And I've kinda heard a few...well, no, that's probably not true anyway."

"What's that?" Gomamon peered up. Jou found himself not one bit surprised; if there was a gossip among their partnered Digimon, then Gomamon was that gossip.

Ogremon rubbed the back of his head. "Well, this is probably all wrong and I don't know how anyone could do it anyway, but I've heard that sometimes some Digimon do something that makes an egg between the two of them."

Jou and Gomamon looked at one another. Jou hadn't studied medicine for nothing; he knew what that 'something' probably was. Though the thought that Digimon could reproduce like that as well as one that had never, ever occurred to him.

"You mean like how humans do it?" Gomamon sounded more fascinated than anything else. "I didn't know that! Who do you know who did it?"

Ogremon actually blushed. Of all the things that Jou had seen in his life, the sight of one of their former enemies blushing over this had never been one he'd expected to see. Granted, he'd also never thought he'd have this conversation at all.

"It was one of the Bakemon who used to live in the graveyard. I think it was just telling some kind of tall tale, though." Ogremon shook his head firmly. "They didn't really like me around anyway."

Jou nodded; they might've forgiven Ogremon, but not everyone felt the same way. There weren't very many Bakemon who were all that forgiving anyway.

Gomamon looked more disappointed than anything else. "Aw, man. That could've been interesting!"

"There are other things that are interesting, Gomamon," Jou told him. Though he very much doubted Gomamon wanted to hear that. The grumbling he heard told him he was right about that.

* * *

Miyako tossed and turned, wanting to keep her eyes closed and not able to do so. Too many images kept crowding in the back of her mind, ones that kept her from relaxing enough to do anything at all. None of them made any sense, not separately and not together.

Images of the sky and clouds spun behind her eyes, not as if she were looking at them from the ground, like a sensible person, but as if she were up there in them somehow.

And not flying on Holsmon or Aquilamon, either. That made less sense than anything else. There wasn't any other way she could be up that high. And she knew she wasn't in a plane or anything else.

With a groan, she threw herself onto her stomach and pulled a pillow over her head. "What is wrong with me?" she growled to herself. She knew Hawkmon was in her room with her, but at the moment, she just wanted to be alone.

"Miyako." Her partner sounded worried. That wasn't surprising. Miyako was worried about herself at the moment. None of this made any _sense_.

Sky and clouds weren't the only images that haunted her now, and seeing Hawkmon wouldn't help at all. He carried the other image in her mind: feathers. Feathers that she could feel wrapped around her as if they were her own, and everything she felt told her that they _were_ hers.

But that just couldn't be. She knew what she was. She knew who she was.

"Miyako?" Hawkmon's feathers touched her and she had to bite into the pillow hard to stop herself from shrieking at all of the images that conjured up.

"Hawkmon, I think I'm sick," she murmured, eyes still closed firmly. "I feel really, really weird." She didn't think 'sick' was the right word. But she didn't know what else to call it when all of these images and more refused to calm down.

He moved up closer to her. She could feel his movements even when not looking at him. "You look almost like I felt when I hadn't been to the Digital World in too long."

Miyako didn't quite blink, but the confusion was much the same. "Huh?" That really didn't make any sense. But the idea of being somewhere that wasn't this tiny room suddenly sparked within her. She pulled herself around so fast she almost knocked Hawkmon over.

"Maybe that's it. Maybe I need fresh air. Digital air!" She'd heard stranger things in the last few years of her life. "Come on, we're going to the Digital World!"

She grabbed for her shoes, bouncing on first one leg, then the other, to get them on, and stuck her head out of her bedroom door. "Mom, Dad, I'm going to the Digital World! I don't know if I'll be back for dinner!"

She didn't wait around for an answer, but flipped her laptop open and started the gate program. The whole idea of being in the Digital World consumed her to the point nothing else mattered right now. In a flash of light, she and Hawkmon were both gone.

**To Be Continued**


	4. Falling

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 4: Falling  
**Characters:** Chosen Children  
**Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,660||story: 10,635  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.

* * *

From the way Koushirou sounded over the phone, Taichi had kind of expected him to arrive on Kabuterimon, panicked and frenzied. Instead, he knocked politely on the door to the apartment, greeting Taichi's parents politely as he was let in.

"So what's this big problem?" Taichi asked once the two of them were closed up in his room. Technically his and Hikari's, though she spent more time out of it these days. His mom had said that was due to growing up or something. He didn't think it was such a good idea to ask too many questions.

Koushirou set his laptop down on the desk and flipped it up, not saying anything while it booted. Tentomon hovered near his shoulder, the closest thing to a worried expression he could have on his face.

"Gennai's in hiding from Shihaimon," Koushirou said at last. "He wouldn't give any clues as to where he actually is, but this message was left behind. I think we're in a lot more trouble than we ever imagined we would be."

Taichi frowned, watching Koushirou pull up something on a word processing program. He understood computers better than he had when he'd been eleven, but Koushirou's actions still confused him. The redhead waved him toward the screen and he bent forward, curiosity outweighing that confusion for the moment.

It didn't take long for him to read the message. He looked back up at Koushirou, the confusion reigning supreme now. "What does any of that mean?"

"I don't know. At least not in any details, other than it will involve Digimon somehow."

Taichi rolled his eyes; what about their lives didn't? He stared at the message a little more, working through it, trying to make any sense of it that he could.

"Have you shown this to any of the others yet?" Maybe one of them would be able to sort through it better than he could. Though if Koushirou couldn't, Taichi wasn't certain who could.

"Yamato and Sora are the only other ones who know about it yet. I wanted to tell Daisuke next," Koushirou told him. Taichi nodded; that was what he would've done.

"I guess the best we can do until we know more is just wait and see what happens."

Koushirou nodded, settling down now into one of the chairs. His fingers moved lightly over the table, tapping his nails on it worriedly. Taichi frowned; Koushirou seldom showed any nervousness like that at all. It wasn't unheard of, just very rare, and usually when he was a lot more concerned than he wanted to let anyone know about.

"Gabumon also caught a hint of a Leomon's scent while we were there," Koushirou said after a few moments of silence, filled only with Taichi's curious looks at him. "He said it wasn't very fresh, but we haven't seen any Leomon in a long time."

Taichi winced; he kind of missed the big lion Digimon, for all that they'd spent a lot of time running away from him while he was under Devimon's control. He'd heard about what happened from Jou and Mimi, and even that Ogremon now lived in the Village of Beginnings, waiting for him to come back.

Sometimes he wondered if they should have someone who lived in the Digital World on a permanent basis, to inform them of things like this.

"I'll call Daisuke and get him over here," Taichi said at last, eager to do something that wasn't stare at words that gave only warnings and not answers. Daisuke would feel about the same way he did on it, he knew, but he also had a way of looking at things that could give answers in the strangest of places.

* * *

"Why can't I go?" Jun glowered at her brother furiously from over Elecmon's head. Her partner gave him the same kind of look, but Daisuke did nothing aside from turning the page in his magazine.

"I told you already. Shihaimon's really dangerous. You don't want to spend the rest of your life running around doing what someone else tells you, do you?"

For all that Jun was twenty-two and getting far closer to graduating college than Daisuke wanted to think about, she could still act like the seventeen year old she'd once been.

"I don't do what _anyone_ tells me to!"

She didn't add a foot stomp, for which Daisuke gave her a mental point. "I've noticed. How long has it been since mom asked you to wash the dishes?"

He kinda liked the way she squealed at that. No matter how old the two of them got, this would never get old itself.

The phone rang and he reached up to get it, wondering who wanted to talk to Jun now. He didn't get too many calls himself, and their parents were off somewhere for the weekend, visiting a hot spring or something. He hadn't listened much beyond 'we're going away for the weekend, don't burn the building down, _please_'.

As if he'd do that. It wasn't his fault that Digimon who invaded Earth sometimes targeted him.

"Hello?" He expected Momoe, in all honesty. Maybe Ken, if he were lucky. He'd like it if it were Ken.

A different voice from either of those answered. "Daisuke, it's Taichi."

Well, that put a new spin on the afternoon. He sat up, almost knocking the snoozing V-mon to the floor. "Is something wrong? Is everyone all right?" Nothing had happened to Ken, had it? He thought he might go out of his skin with worry if it had.

"Well, I won't say that everything is all right, but no one's hurt. I just need you to come over and see something. You can stay for dinner if you want."

Daisuke blinked at that, then shrugged, grinning. "Sounds like a good plan to me."

Jun still glowered at him from across the room, hands on her hips, partner resting on the table beside her, not wanting to back down. He hung the phone up and looked back at her.

"You really want to go, don't you?" He couldn't help but soften some. Jun's fingers tightened around her D-3, the same shade of red as her hair.

"You know I do."

He let out a long, half-playful sigh. "All right. Tomorrow. We'll both go." Maybe if she spent an afternoon tromping around with nothing happening, then she'd get it out of her system. The last thing he really wanted was for Jun to end up on Shihaimon's payroll.

Which, he realized a moment later, probably meant it would happen. Maybe he'd ask Ken to come along. They could always use the extra backup anyway.

And the idea of spending more time around Ken was never one that he would turn down.

* * *

Mimi stared from her Digivice to the laptop and back again. She knew what she wanted to do. She knew how stupid it was. They'd all promised never to go to the Digital World alone, without at least telling someone that they were going there. It wouldn't necessarily keep them safe, but someone would at least know if there was a chance they were in trouble.

She wanted to go so much. She had to find Michael and just try one more time to get through to him.

_Or maybe I could find Shihaimon._ Mimi had raised an army once to fight against the forces controlling the Digital World. She'd do it again to bring this one down if she had to.

She fidgeted more than once, trying to convince herself to go. Or to not go. A thousand arguments for both ways coursed through her. Michael needed to be saved. So did Noriko and Catherine. And all of those other Digimon who Shihaimon enslaved.

But going there with only Palmon would run the risk of _them_ ending up being the ones who had to be saved. They'd made it as long as they had because Shihaimon didn't have anyone who could evolve higher than Adult.

"Mimi?" Palmon touched her leafy hand to Mimi's. "I think we should go."

Mimi's eyes widened. "You really do?"

Palmon nodded, concern in her large black eyes. "Maybe we can find something out that can help. We don't have to stay long."

That was all it took to make up Mimi's mind. She scrawled a quick note to her parents, letting them know what she was doing, and got the program going on her laptop. She knew her parents would be worried, even with the note. But she _had_ to do something. Just lazing around here wasn't her style at all.

On the other side of the gate rose the usual sylvan glade that she and Palmon arrived in when they came to the Digital World. A stream trickled through the woods not far away, and she could hear a few twitters from various bird Digimon.

She looked around carefully, trying to think of where to start. No one knew where Shihaimon's lair was or how she kept track of what was going on with them. They only knew that when she wanted to attack, she did, and all they did was fight her back.

"This way," she decided, picking a direction at random. It was just as good as any other, and the two of them headed along the slender path that wound through the trees. She kept all of her attention on what was going on around them.

"Mimi," Palmon murmured, watching around them as much as Mimi was. "I think we're being watched."

The feeling of eyes on her wasn't a strange one. Most Chosen Children experienced it no matter what. But this was different somehow, in a way that Mimi didn't like at all.

"Hello, Mimi." A far too familiar voice spoke, wrapped in diamond edges and shadow mists. "I've been waiting for you."

Part of Mimi wasn't surprised at all. She would not have been surprised to say that she really wasn't surprised, no matter what. This was part of why she'd come here in the first place. She turned toward the voice, tense and ready.

"Hello, Michael."

* * *

Hikari licked at her ice cream, watching Tailmon watch the play of the ocean waves. This little cove reminded her of some of the quieter places in the Digital World, the ones where no one dared disturb the peace. She wished she could spend more time in places like that, but something always came up to interrupt her.

She rubbed at her forehead with her free hand, trying to ease the headache that had plagued her for the last day or so. She'd tried every remedy that her family swore by, but nothing did any good.

"Hikari?" Tailmon nudged her partner, looking up at her curiously. "How are you feeling?"

"About the same," Hikari replied, managing not to sigh. "Getting fresh air isn't doing anything to help either."

Tailmon's tail twitched. Hikari could almost see her trying to think up another one, wanting to do anything that would help ease her pain. Neither of them said anything, and Hikari could not express how grateful she was for that. She'd spent a significant portion of her life feeling under the weather for some reason or other, and it was something she kind of got used to after a while.

That didn't mean she liked it any better, but she knew how to handle feeling like this.

Settling herself down on the beach sand, she worked more on her ice cream, closing her eyes and letting the sound of the waves relax her. She could feel Tailmon near her, worried as only a Digimon could be about their partner.

Light flashed behind her eyes. The fingers of her free hand dug into the sand beneath her.

Images faster than she could comprehend blasted through her mind. Warning danger friends disaster looming something going wrong power rising shadows light tame wild make it stop make it stop make it stop!

"Hikari! Hikari!" Small paws shaking her. A worried voice. Hikari slowly shook her head, trying to clear it, and not having that much luck, though the images began to trickle off. "What's wrong? What is it?"

She swallowed, trying to put a word or two together sensibly, and not having anything like good luck. "Don't... know..."

Her head throbbed more than it ever had before. She tucked it down between her legs, her stomach churning, tears pricking at her eyes. This had to stop, whatever it was.

Danger danger disaster doom blood child see it see them see all you need to know can't wait too late

Hikari did not like the dark. She never had, even before finding out she was the Child of Light.

But now the shadows enfolded her in comforting arms and she could still feel Tailmon's paw holding her hand and she let herself fall away from everything.

* * *

"So what's going on?" Daisuke wanted to know as soon the door to Taichi's room closed. "And why isn't anyone else here?"

"We're going to tell them later, but we thought that you should know first," Taichi said. At Koushirou's nod he pulled the laptop a little closer. "read this."

Daisuke tilted his head for a moment, before shrugging and leaning forward to do so. "I told Jun that I'd take her to the Digital World this weekend," he said as he did. "There are some places I know where _nothing_ ever happens. I figure I'll take her around one of those and she'll get the feel of being one of the Chosen and I don't have to worry about her getting her brains sucked out of her head."

Even without looking up he could almost see the looks being exchanged between Taichi and Koushirou. "I'm not stupid! I'm going to make sure Ken comes with us. So if anything does happen, we'll be ready for it."

"You should still be careful," Koushirou warned. "Almost anything can happen."

Daisuke leaned back from the laptop and stared over at his two seniors. "Yeah, I know." He gestured toward the note he'd read. "What's this all about anyway?"

"That's why we wanted you to know first. We don't know. And we kind of hoped that you might." Taichi rubbed the back of his head. "It's got me stumped, that's for sure."

Daisuke looked from them to the note and back again. "I'd say the first thing to do would be to figure out who these seven are, so we know who to keep an eye on."

"Good idea, but we don't have any real clues. Gennai made a point of being vague. Probably to keep Shihaimon from guessing before we could." Koushirou tapped on the table again, a frown forming between his eyes. "We'll need to tell everyone eventually."

That got a quick shrug from Daisuke and Taichi both. "So why not do it now? The sooner everyone knows what to look for, the better," Daisuke suggested.

None of them paid attention to the ringing phone outside the room. Koushirou started to draw up a quick mass e-mail, while Taichi paced a little. Daisuke fiddled with his D-Terminal, thinking of how to phrase his own request to Ken. He suspected that a quick 'I'm taking Jun to the Digital World, want to come along?' would get the same answer that anything else would, but he still wanted to do it right. He'd seen the occasional way Ken looked at him, and as much as he wanted to go there _with_ Ken, the idea of going there with Ken and _his sister_ had drawbacks of its own.

He'd just begun to frame the e-mail when the door slammed open without warning. Taichi's mother stood there, pale and drawn. "We're going to the hospital. Hikari was at the beach and she had some kind of ...something. They don't know what to call it, but she's unconscious and we're going there _now_!"

**To Be Continued**


	5. Steps

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 5: Steps  
**Characters:** Chosen Children  
**Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,589||story: 13,224  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.

* * *

There wasn't a single thought in Taichi's head at the moment that didn't revolve around concern for his sister. He leaned against the wall, trying to keep himself from going into a shrieking panic, and glad that Yamato stood not two feet away, ready to keep him calm no matter what. It probably wouldn't reach a state of needing to get a punch to the face, but Taichi trusted Yamato to do whatever was necessary.

The other Chosen turned up one by one, their partners with them, and settled into seats or positions of their own around the waiting room. Everyone remained far too quiet, broken only by occasional mutterings among themselves or the hospital intercom passing messages throughout the building.

A tiny part of his mind did prod at what Koushirou told him earlier and the message from Gennai. Did this have something to do with that? On the one hand, it might give them some idea of what to expect. On the other, this was his _sister_. The sister who had lived with health issues all of her life. Sure, most of those had been clearing up over the last couple of years, but to have this happen now? Taichi didn't think he knew what 'calm' actually meant anymore.

The Chosen weren't the only ones there; Taichi's parents sat next to each other, hand in hand, pale as could be. He knew they were thinking much the same that he was, wondering just how serious this could be. Perhaps they didn't know anything about this mysterious 'Awakening' that Gennai mentioned, but they worried anyway.

The door swung open and a tall dark-haired woman stepped out, eyes skimming the gathered group. "Who's here for Yagami Hikari?" The look on her face when every single person and Digimon there stood up would've made Taichi laugh under any other circumstances.

His parents moved forward, though. "We're her parents. What's going on?" His father asked. Taichi moved closer as well, wanting to know what was going on.

"Well, in all honesty, we don't know." The doctor shook her head. "We've run every test that we know that could deal with what happened to her, and medically speaking, she's fine."

Taichi didn't have to look to know the glances that were flying back and forth among his friends. "So what happened?"

"She fainted. We know that much. We ruled out everything we could. She's not undernourished, she doesn't have a fever, and every test we ran indicated nothing at all." Again the doctor looked confused, but did her best to cover it. "We'd like to keep her overnight for observation, but if everything turns out the way it looks like it's going to, then she can go home tomorrow."

All the Yagamis nodded, some of the tight tension easing out of Taichi at that. Whatever it was, Hikari was going to be all right. She wasn't sick. "Can we go see her?"

The doctor cast another glance at the large group, her lips quirked for a moment. "Not all at once. Two at the time, at the most, and visiting hours end at eight p.m."

"You go first," Taichi said, jerking his head at his parents. "I'll figure out how we're going to get in there."

"Is she awake?" His mom asked, checking her rush toward the door. The doctor nodded, and both elder Yagamis hurried on out of sight, the doctor following at a slower pace.

All the tension that had held the group tight eased up now. Taichi slumped back against the wall, breathing deeply, flashing a quick smile at Yamato and anyone else close enough to see him. Koushirou had his laptop out, staring down at it intently.

"Anything unusual?" Taichi asked, wanting to get that sorted out as soon as they could as well. Hikari's health was in good shape, but the question of that 'Awakening' hadn't been resolved yet.

Koushirou shook his head. "Nothing I can tell yet, though I might have to be closer to her to find out anything in particular. Without knowing exactly what I'm looking for, I can't be certain."

Multiple faces turned toward them all, with varying levels of concern and curiosity. "What's going on?" Takeru wanted to know. "Something new?"

"You could say that," Koushirou said, fingers still flying over the keys. "Yamato, Sora, and I found out something interesting at Gennai's." He kept his voice just a little low, to make certain no one who didn't need to hear them did.

Taichi did a quick headcount; everyone was there, even Mimi, who looked as if she should probably have been back home getting some sleep. He double-checked; no, Miyako wasn't there. He frowned; that really wasn't like her. Normally she would've been there as fast as he was. Maybe faster, if she could get Hawkmon to evolve to take her.

"Where's Miyako?"

"She's in the Digital World," Sora replied at once. "I sent her a message when I heard about what happened. She'll be here - "

Sora didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before the doors hissed open and Miyako rushed in, twigs in her hair, eyes wide and wild. "Is she all right?" she sputtered. "What happened?" Hawkmon hovered behind her, trying and failing to get her to calm down.

"She's all right." Sora stepped over to reassure the other Chosen. "It was just a fainting spell. Nothing else seems to be wrong with her."

Miyako stood, chest heaving, eyes still wide, and reached up absently to yank on one of the twigs caught in her hair. "Are you sure?"

"As sure as we can be. Koushirou has some other issues, though." Sora glanced back at the Chosen of Knowledge, who hadn't moved from his laptop for a moment.

Taichi nodded, turning his own gaze back to their friend. "Want me to tell them?"

"That might be for the best," Koushirou replied, peering at something on the screen. Taichi turned back to them all.

"Putting it kind of simply, Gennai's hiding from Shihaimon and he left a note saying that some of us are going to have something weird happen to us. He didn't say who or what, though, so if anything really weird does happen, let us know?"

"Define weird." Mimi's lip quirked upward and Taichi had to admit that was a good point.

Koushirou answered before he could, though. "Weird by _our_ standards."

That covered a lot more territory than one might've thought. Taichi found a seat, more inclined to get comfortable now that he knew his sister wasn't likely to die at a moment's notice, and closed his eyes, letting his mind ease for a few heartbeats. He'd have to sort out who got to see her first soon enough but he could take a few seconds for himself.

"Oh, if anyone needs me, I'm going to be in the Digital World myself for a few days," Sora said. Taichi glanced up long enough to see her hands closing over one another, tension in every line of her. "It's kind of a personal thing. I'll be staying with Piyomon."

Daisuke tilted his head and scratched the back of his neck. "Doesn't she live in a nest?"

"It's a big nest!" Piyomon declared, fluffing her feathers. "There's plenty of room for Sora and me!"

"If you say so," Daisuke said. His own gaze flickered briefly to Ken. "Speaking of the Digital World, Jun's been hassling me a lot lately to head there. She thinks she can help with Shihaimon." Taichi wasn't the only one to snort at that. "I know, I know, but I'm going to take her, just to make certain she gets it out of her system. We're probably going to go in a couple of days."

Ken shifted a little, eyes focused on his evolution partner. "You two shouldn't go by yourselves." Daisuke's lips could barely part before he continued. "I'll meet you there. Let me know when you're on the way."

Taichi managed to hold back the bark of laughter that wanted to escape from his lips, but only by the skin of his teeth. A sort of choked snicker did make its way out, however, and he didn't have a chance to look calm by the time Daisuke looked toward him.

"Good idea," was all he managed to say, nodding fiercely. "Hey, why don't you two go see Hikari when my parents come out?" He indicated Ken and Daisuke with another nod. He would need a little time without Daisuke glowering at him to get himself under better control.

* * *

Koushirou kept himself bent over his laptop, going through everything he could find to see if anything interesting or different had turned up since Gennai's upgrades. He trusted their mentor, but with the lack of information they were getting at the moment, he had to do this on his own.

_It would be so much easier if I knew what I was looking for._ Knowing a number and a vague hint didn't make picking this conundrum apart easy at all. Those barely even qualified as clues to him, and that wasn't even like Gennai at all. _He's always been as forthcoming as he could. If he hasn't told us something, he either didn't know, or someone wasn't letting him tell us._

There were few who had the authority to bind Gennai's lips like that. Koushirou still wasn't entirely certain of the authority that Gennai had that allowed him to do what he did, but given that everything he _did_ do was for the good of the Digital World, that seemed to be all that was necessary. So the quiet now disturbed even more as he considered what caused it.

_Whatever this 'Awakening' is, it's going to cause trouble for Shihaimon. That's why he doesn't want her to know about it._ Figuring that out wasn't difficult at all. The issue remained, as it had been, exactly what it _was_.

Koushirou decided a good dose of logic and reason would be useful here. If something was going to wake up, then it needed to sleep. Sleep could have so many different connotations.

He set that aside for the moment and turned back to what else Gennai had said in his note. He'd said they didn't all know who they really were. Koushirou mentally paced around that concept. He'd worried at who he was for years and only recently had begun to make strides toward finding it out. Was this something similar?

The idea was worth considering more. He doubted that they were all adopted; most of them had baby pictures with their parents, so that ruled that concept out. So perhaps it was like that but not entirely? Something else where he didn't have enough information to figure out the answer.

Tentomon buzzed closer to him. "You've been working at that since we found Gennai's note," his partner reminded him. "You should take some time to rest."

Koushirou wanted to protest; they did need to figure this out and the sooner they did, the better. None of them wanted to leave Shihaimon to her own devices for that long. But a crick in his neck and an ache in his back told him more clearly than anything how true Tentomon's words were.

"I'll talk to Miyako about this," he decided, looking to where the younger Chosen sat next to Sora and Mimi, both of whom were working on getting the knots and twigs out of her long hair. Exactly what she'd been up to in the Digital World baffled him, but most of what Miyako did that didn't relate to computers baffled him anyway. "When she's feeling up to it, at least."

Tentomon made a content noise as Koushirou began to shut his laptop down. Koushirou knew well how his partner worried about him, and tried his best not to make it worse. He'd noticed when he took more breaks that his work did improve later, so it was worth the trouble.

Still, closing the laptop didn't stop the questions from floating around in the back of his mind. Something awakening could also mean something _starting_ and just what that was did not necessarily bode well for all of them.

Until they could figure it out, however, they would all simply have to hope for the best.

* * *

Sora breathed just a trifle easier as she worked the brush through Miyako's hair. Once this weekend passed, she'd be able to go home and spend time with her parents without worrying if she was interrupting anything special between them.

To top that off, that infernal itching had mostly ceased. Piyomon hadn't had anything that could really help, but after the last day or so, it began to ease off. She still couldn't figure out what had started it in the first place.

_Maybe I should talk to Jou about it._ While his speciality was Digimon medicine, if this _was_ Digital World related, he might be able to help.

Right now wasn't the time, though. A small itch that was fading didn't compare to the issues of Gennai's message or Shihaimon. If it was caused by either of those, then 'annoying itch' was either Shihaimon's worst attack ever or something she'd gladly sleep through.

The only problem about keeping this to herself for the moment was that she now wondered what had sent Miyako into the Digital World. Was it the same thing? And if it was, did that mean it really was related to this 'Awakening' thing? Or something else contagious?

As much as she loved Piyomon and being part of something to save more than one world, Sora did wonder at times if this was just a little too much to deal with.

She tried not to think too much on it, though, and to focus on the more optimistic side if she could. The itching was ending. Miyako didn't look any worse for wear herself. They were doing a great job of keeping Shihaimon at bay, even with the fact she had some of their friends in her grip. They'd figure out how to break it sooner or later. There wasn't any such thing as an unbreakable force. They'd learned that long ago. They just had to find what could break it and Sora didn't doubt at all that they would.

* * *

Shihaimon saw no reason not to combine business with pleasure, so as she considered which of the most powerful Digimon were available and could be useful to her cause, she also dined on the finest food available, fished from the deep oceans and gathered from the trees. Some of the dishes were also imported from Earth, such as the exquisite steak she now enjoyed.

_I really must acquire a chef with some skill in Earth cuisine,_ she mused to herself. _I've heard that the Chosen of Friendship is quite good with that._

But first points first. She needed to defeat them all before she could assign them to places in her realm. And for that she needed the wisdom and information available to only the greatest of Digimon.

_Rosemon or Hououmon. One of them should have what I need to know._ There were other powerful Digimon but all of her information told her that these two would be the ones most likely to fall into her traps.

Of course, there was always the option of both. In Shihaimon's opinion, there was no kill like overkill, once one had the resources to make overkill an option.

Both. Definitely both.

**To Be Continued**


	6. Ladies

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 6: Ladies  
**Characters:** Chosen Children  
**Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,690||story: 15,914  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.

* * *

Tailmon stayed beside Hikari as afternoon crept into evening and evening into night. The other Chosen and their partners came and went, murmuring soft words to the Child of Light, both before and after she woke up. Hikari said very little, only apologized for worrying people, and looked forward to going home as soon as possible.

Tailmon waited until all the visitors had gone home and it was just the two of them in the room before she said anything beyond her own pawful of words.

Though in truth, she didn't get a chance to speak before Hikari opened her own mouth. "Something's on your mind, isn't it, Tailmon?"

The feline Digimon blinked; Hikari always had been able to read her so very well. She rubbed the back of her head for a moment before coming to settle down more comfortably next to her partner.

"I'm worried about you. I don't know if this was just fainting or what." She didn't; everything the human doctors could do said that it was nothing else, but Jou and Koushirou looked worried about something. They hadn't wanted to say it just yet, citing too many ears who they couldn't be entirely certain they could trust, but something was very clearly going on.

Hikari took Tailmon's paw in her own. "Whatever it is, I know we'll manage it together." She smiled, though it held a tinge of worry to it. "I was trying to remember what I heard before I fainted, though. Did you hear anything?"

Tailmon slowly shook her head. "What do you mean, what you heard? There wasn't anyone there but us."

"I know. But I still heard something anyway." Hikari's eyes darkened as she tilted her head back. "It was very strange. I could've sworn that I knew who it was, but I couldn't really tell what they were trying to say. It was very confused." Her lips quirked again. "And confusing."

This didn't cheer Tailmon up at all. "If it's dangerous, we should let the others know about it." Taichi, Jou, and Koushirou, definitely. Maybe it would even tie into whatever the latter two had on their minds.

"Maybe tomorrow. It's too late to call them now, and I don't even have my D-Terminal with me." She frowned; neither of them especially liked that. Taichi had it with him, as well as her D-3, to keep them safe, he'd said. None of them expected anything to happen here and now, and if it did, Tailmon herself was there. She believed she could handle just about anything.

That didn't make Hikari like it, though, nor did Tailmon find it that reassuring.

Tailmon flexed her claws, thinking. There was something familiar about all of this, but she couldn't think of what it was. It bothered her at least as much as she knew it bothered Hikari.

_Tomorrow,_ she reassured herself. _It can wait until then._

"Get some sleep," she directed Hikari. "Tomorrow will get here fast like that." She'd learned that long ago and it was one of the few truths she'd learned that ended up being completely universal. Sleep made the future come faster.

She had to hope, as she always did before, that the future was worth waiting for.

* * *

Miyako flopped back onto her bed, flipping over a second later to stare up at the ceiling. _Well, at least I don't quite feel like I'm coming out of my skin anymore._ She hadn't had nearly as much time in the Digital World as she really wanted, but things were looking up. Mostly.

"Miyako?" Momoe's voice came from the other side of the door. "Are you there?"

"Where else would I be?" Miyako muttered, conveniently forgetting that the last time she'd actually said anything to her family she'd told them she was going to the Digital World. She was still a teenager, she reminded herself. She didn't have to be consistent if she didn't want to be.

"You could be either in the Digital World or at the hospital still," Momoe replied calmly, opening the door and peeking inside. "I heard what happened with Hikari-chan from Jun. Is she all right?"

"As far as we know. Just a fainting thing," Miyako said, not bothering to move up. "She should be home tomorrow most likely."

Momoe nodded, not moving in, which Miyako appreciated. She didn't have much room to herself, and she liked to keep what she did have. "So what about you?"

"What about me?"

"You don't usually just go running off to the Digital World unless it's something really important. Was it?"

Miyako leaned her head on one of her pillows. Hawkmon watched her from the perch she'd built a couple of years earlier, mostly as a joke, but which was very useful now anyway. It gave him a place to sit that was out of the way and Miyako wouldn't find herself tossing her jacket over it like she did chairs.

Well, not too often, anyway.

"Sort of. I mean, it wasn't life-threatening or anything, but it was kind of necessary." She wasn't being entirely dishonest; she felt so much better compared to before. She just didn't know how to tell her sister that she'd had a huge case of cabin fever that only being in the Digital World had been able to fix. Being one of the Chosen Children allowed a lot of weird things but this one just made her want to keep it to herself for now.

Momoe just nodded. Miyako knew if she turned her head, she'd likely see Momoe's partner sitting on her shoulder. The way the shadows fell told her that much, as did the fact Pagumon almost always sat on Momoe's shoulder if she had any choice in the matter.

"Miyako..." Momoe hesitated before she said anything else. "I… do you..."

Miyako squirmed around enough so she could get a good look at her sister. This wasn't like Momoe at all. "What?"

"It's nothing. I was just…" Momoe shook her head, casting a quick glance over her shoulder. "No. Nothing."

Miyako sat up all the way, frowning now. "Usually when someone says that it's nothing, that kind of means it isn't. What's on your mind?"

"I was just wondering if - " Momoe hesitated once more, then burst out the next words. "If you're going to go see that new zombie movie when it opens up?"

"What?" Miyako blinked again. She hadn't thought Momoe even knew that she wanted to go see the zombie movie. All of the previews she'd seen for it were so _good_, and the book it had been based on was even better. She hoped they kept true to the entire plot…

Then she jerked herself mentally around. "Probably. But that's not what you wanted, was it?" She was nineteen. She could be flighty. She could be ridiculous. But she wasn't ever _stupid_.

Momoe backed up. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing." Her smile hovered on the verge of being false without quite making it. Miyako wondered if she should try to convince her that being one of the Chosen of Purity gave her a special insight on how to tell when someone was lying through their teeth.

Not that it did, but the thought of trying kind of amused her a little.

Before she could shape the words, however, Momoe waved quickly and darted back to her own room, closing the door behind her. Miyako stared after, considering going over there herself. Then she caught herself yawning and realized how late it was.

_Tomorrow._ Tomorrow would be a perfectly good day to find out what was going on.

* * *

Sora nibbled a little on one of the apples she and Piyomon had picked for dinner. Digital World apples could taste like almost anything, and this one gave the sharp delight of a well-done steak. Sora hadn't had steak very often, but she couldn't decide if this one was better than actual meat or not.

She ran her other hand up her arm, scratching a little. For the most part her itching had eased off, but every now and then it twitched back up again, almost as if to remind her that it still existed.

"Sora?" Piyomon looked up from where she nibbled on her own apple. "How is it?"

"Better," Sora replied, not lying. "I think it'll be gone in a few days." She wanted that to be true.

"You're going to go home before then, though, aren't you?" Piyomon didn't look especially thrilled over this. Nor did Sora feel too happy about it herself. Spending time with Piyomon here felt right, in a way that she didn't have the words to explain.

"Probably." But she had to go back to Earth, regardless. At least she didn't have to go right away. She could spend another couple of days at least here with her partner. She didn't have that much else to do there, and the more time her parents got with one another, the better. They didn't have it very often, and she could visit her dad more freely these days than before.

A beep came from her D-Terminal and she fished it out to see what was up. A tiny thread of fear nudged at her that something had gone wrong with Hikari, but she fought it back. All to the good, since the message was from Mimi anyway, and had nothing to do with Hikari.

"What is it?" Piyomon wanted to know. Sora typed back a quick answer before she spoke.

"Mimi wants to come visit tomorrow. I told her we'd meet her by the portal." She hadn't spent nearly enough time around Mimi in the last couple of years, and the only even remotely bearable fact of Shihaimon's attacks was that Mimi turned up more often. E-mails and video calls kept their friendship strong, but it was a little difficult to shop with one another when time zones had to be taken into account.

Not that Mimi didn't try, of course. And she'd come very close to succeeding.

Piyomon brightened up at that. "Can't wait to see her and Palmon!"

Sora nodded; arranging meetings to take the time difference into account was second nature to them all by now.

_She looked really worn out at the hospital. I hope she gets enough rest between now and then._ If not, Sora would make certain that Mimi at least got a good nap before sending her back home.

* * *

A dozen images spun through her mind as she observed the two worlds under her watch. Only long centuries of experience helped her to sort through them all and understand what she saw. If anyone else could've seen what she did, they might well have gone mad from it all.

But her eyes were clear and her breathing calm as she observed the plans and problems of both the Chosen Children and Shihaimon. She shook her head a fraction, mildly amused by it all. But she generally was; she'd seen so much throughout her lifetime that she was almost never _not_ amused by it all. Patterns repeated over and over and very seldom did people, human or Digimon, learn from them.

Knowing what she did still didn't give her as much insight as to what might happen as she would like, though. There were far too many ways that anyone could react to what they learned of themselves, and it all depended on when and how they found out.

That, she knew, was why Gennai refused to let the Chosen know exactly what was going on. He trusted to their good sense for them to make the right choices.

Other powers trusted other things, and if it had been possible would've made certain the Chosen knew the truth years earlier. She favored them ever so slightly, but hadn't yet made up her mind on if she should approach the Chosen and tell them what she knew.

_I think not. Not yet._ With Shihaimon having her talons into everything the way that she did, it would be best not to let them know of her existence. She'd kept that a secret from everyone short of Qinglongmon and his fellow Holy Beasts. But she'd never thought to keep herself a secret from them anyway.

It would have to happen sooner or later; she knew that much. With one of those Chosen being her dear son, she could not do anything less.

Her long fingers brushed for a moment against an image of him that hung on her chamber's wall. Like much of what she owned, it was enchanted to change with the passing of time. Now it reflected him as he was in that moment.

_Oushimon._ It would take him time to grow into the name and into his power. There would be others first.

And those she would watch, until the right time arrived at last.

* * *

"You've done good work, my dear," Shihaimon said, running her fingers through her servant's hair. "I'm so very proud of you." Her servants improved day by day, after all, as they grew more and more used to the fact that they _were_ her servants and had no choice but to obey her.

This one was still new to her, but had begun to produce good results already. Shihaimon looked forward to seeing what else would happen when their newly formed plan came to fruition.

"Thank you, mistress," the servant replied, voice soft and submissive. "I live only to please you."

Oh, Shihaimon loved those words. She could've listened to them for ages.

"Do you really think they're going to fall for this? And what about looking for those other two Digimon you wanted?"

Shihaimon turned to the newcomer, eyes narrowed. She'd known him intermittently for years, and he never grew any easier to be around. She suspected he knew that and did so on purpose. It would be like him, the self-centered narcissist.

"What about them? I know where Rosemon's garden is, and Hououmon's nest won't be hard to find at all."

His lips tilted into a quirky sort of smile. "And you still haven't figured out where _she_ lives, have you?"

"Why should I? You're the one who promised me her in the first place," Shihaimon pointed out. "Are you going back on your word?" She wouldn't be surprised. The only person that he held even a shred of true loyalty to was himself.

He only shrugged, a movement liquid and graceful, made more so by the great set of feathered wings that rose from his shoulders. He flicked off a speck or two of probably imaginary dust before he smiled.

"Of course not. But it would be so much easier if you worked with me on this as well. She'd expect me to try something."

Shihaimon came within a breath of laughing out loud. Taking another glance at her servant, she gestured for them to leave. They'd done enough and they had much more to do. This was talk for more important beings and nothing they needed to be involved with.

"And you think that she wouldn't expect anything of me? This is your sister we speak of, vain one. She may not know everything, but she knows enough to keep herself hidden for all this time."

"You may have a point," the other acknowledged, but shrugged once more. "But I do have ways around what she can see. Ones I can extend to you as well."

Shihaimon did well in hiding her excitement at this. "And do they work?"

"They work well enough. But they're not ones I use carelessly. I want something more out of this than what you've promised me so far."

And again, she was not surprised. "Name it and if it's within my power, it will be yours." There was little she wouldn't pay for what he offered: the chance to escape the almost all-seeing eye of the wisest Digimon known.

And the price he named was reasonable indeed. What was one Chosen Child more or less? She wanted to end them all eventually anyway. This would just get Motomiya Daisuke out of the way. "Done."

**To Be Continued**


	7. Trip

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 7: Trip  
**Characters:** Chosen Children  
**Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,581||story: 18,495  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.

* * *

Jun reminded herself more than once that she was not a child anymore. She was an adult. She had responsibilities. She was trying her best to live up to those responsibilities by doing what she was doing.

And that didn't stop her from wanting to squeal at the top of her lungs at the thought of going to the Digital World.

She'd only been there a handful of times before, and every time Daisuke had been on the verge of coming out of his skin that she'd fall and prick her finger or something. She hadn't asked what he'd been so worried about. She just knew that he'd worried about _something_.

That was what he was like, though. So she hadn't put a lot of thought into it and instead vibrated around, looking forward to when the trip would actually happen.

"Jun?" Elecmon raised his head and looked at her. "You've brushed your hair four times already this morning. And you washed it twice."

Jun blinked, staring at the brush she'd just picked up as if she'd never seen it before. "I have?" She hadn't been this out of it since the first time she'd gone to a concert on her own!

"Yes." Elecmon nudged her, a hint of amusement on his features. "You don't have to panic. It's just the Digital World."

She gave her partner a _look_, the kind of look she'd practiced on Daisuke many times. It didn't do as much on Elecmon as it had on him, but she did it nevertheless. "Easy for you to say. You're a Digimon. That's your world."

"It's yours too," Elecmon pointed out with the kind of flawless logic that she'd never been good at herself. "You don't have to be this nervous. It's not going to do you any good."

Jun sighed, letting the brush clatter back to the table. "You're right, I know. But I want to do _something_. Something useful." What was the point of being Chosen if you couldn't do something to help when a problem came up? And Shihaimon _was_ a problem, one that was causing more trouble than she was worth.

The thought that more experienced Chosen had faced Shihaimon's minions and barely come out intact was not a strange one to her. But the need to do something burned underneath her skin and she would not do otherwise. She wished that Momoe, Chizuru, and Shuu could go with her, but all of them were busy and this was the only time Daisuke would agree to go. Little jerk.

A tap came on her door, followed a heartbeat later by her brother's voice. "Are you about ready?"

"I'm ready now!" Jun cast a quick glance to her brush, just in time to see Elecmon shaking his head, more in a very amused way than any other. Instead of reaching for it one more time, she picked up her Digivice instead, a much more comforting weight in her hands. "Are you?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She could hear the wariness in his voice and wished she could do something about that. Only the only thing that she actually could do was not go on this trip and she absolutely would _not_ do that.

So she headed over to his room, Elecmon hurrying along with her, and prepared to face whatever turned up on this trip.

* * *

Shihaimon made her preparations with all the care of any seasoned field general. She always kept a certain amount of attention on the Digital World itself, waiting for any chance to strike at the Chosen in a significant manner. That didn't deter her from making her other plans; there were several powerful Digimon that needed to be _persuaded_ around to her way of thinking and that was the sort of thing she needed to tend to in person.

But when an opportunity too perfect to pass up presented itself, she had to make a decision.

_I do need to snatch him up. Jikomon won't co operate until I've handed him over._

Not that she was surprised very much by _that_. Jikomon demanded payment in advance.

The fact Jikomon's payment had arrived, with only one other full Chosen to accompany him and with one lesser Chosen, seemed an opportunity sent from the Digital Gods themselves.

They wouldn't approve of her works, but that mattered little to her. She considered her options; she still didn't want to face any of the Chosen directly herself, not on the battlefield. And there were still two of them, which made matters only a fraction more annoying.

_Perhaps I should send my new servant?_ She considered that one only briefly. This new one was far too _new_ and was in too good of a position to give away this soon in the game.

"Michael, Catherine," she called to two of her older servants. "I have work for you, my dears."

Both of them knelt before her at once. "What can we do to please you, mistress?" Catherine asked, blue eyes shining with anticipation. Michael looked equally ready to do whatever she bid.

"Listen well, my children. This will be a difficult task, but I have the utmost faith that you can accomplish it."

And she carefully laid out what she wished for them to do.

* * *

After Hikari's fever and the general fact that Shihaimon existed and caused them issues in the first place, Daisuke could well be forgiven for going out of his way to make certain the area they were going to arrive in didn't have anywhere that any of Shihaimon's minions could hide in when he chose the emergence spot for himself and Jun. He visited it twice before telling her that it was time to go, and double-checked where Ken would arrive as well.

No one was going to get captured by Shihaimon on _his_ watch. Especially not Ken. He'd had his fill of fighting Ken for at least a dozen lifetimes.

"Daisuke, you can stop prowling around any second now," Jun told him, arms crossed over her chest, glaring at him. "There aren't going to be any Digimon jumping out of the grass. I promise."

Daisuke didn't even bother looking at her. Instead he stared suspiciously at a clump of grass, wanting to make certain it _was_ a clump of grass and not anything else. "There'd better not be."

Ken's soft laugh floated from the other side of the clearing and Daisuke turned at once toward him, eyes lighting up.

"You made it!"

"Glad to see you too," Ken replied, the corners of his mouth quirking upward the tiniest bit. "So what did you have in mind to do?"

Daisuke drew himself up as tall as he could. "Jun wants to see if there's anything she can do here, so we're going to explore a little."

"And if we meet anyone who works for Shihaimon, then Elecmon and I are going to pound the daylights out of them!" Jun added in cheerfully. Daisuke tensed as soon as she spoke, shaking his head. That was not the kind of outcome that he wanted for this trip at all. He knew that to really work on the bond between Jun and Elecmon, they would need to fight, but they could do that without putting his sister up against opponents that could think faster and better than she could.

She wasn't ready. She would _be_ ready, but today wasn't that day. He'd picked this area in particular because there was a small group of Monochromon not that far off, and if they fought anything at all, he wanted it to be a nice safe Digimon that wanted to defend itself, not take over the Digital World.

"Well, that will be interesting to see," Ken said, keeping his tone level. Daisuke was almost certain he really wanted to laugh and stopped himself because of how rude it would be. "Have you seen anything so far?"

Jun rolled her eyes. "Aside from my brother lifting up rocks to see if there are any evil Digimon hiding underneath them? Nothing at all."

Wormmon, V-mon, and Elecmon gathered together, Elecmon nodding a pleasant hello to the more senior Digimon.

"So, any ideas of what you're going to evolve into?" V-mon wondered. Elecmon shook his head.

"There's no way to tell until it happens. But I want to have a strong evolution, something I can protect Jun with."

Wormmon nodded his agreement. "I'm sure you'll have one. You're a great partner, Elecmon."

Daisuke continued to search around until Jun reached the limits of her patience. "This place is _perfect_, Daisuke. It will stay safe for the next six months, I'm sure. So let's go somewhere else, maybe somewhere that isn't quite so safe?"

He wanted to protest but one look from Ken cut the dissenting words off. "All right. If you insist." He could at least be mildly annoyed by this. "Let's go."

Jun picked a direction before he had a chance to, and it wasn't the direction the Monochromon lived in. Daisuke hissed between his teeth, a faint grumble starting that only ceased when Ken rested one hand on his shoulder.

"You're acting like you're the big brother," he said softly. Daisuke's cheeks flamed at that, bright as the sun. Ken made as if he didn't notice anything, turning his attention to where Jun and Elecmon firmly marched ahead.

"Well, I do know more about the Digital World than she does," Daisuke reminded his friend. "I just want to make sure nothing too bad happens to her."

"I know." Ken didn't add in what Daisuke already knew and had reminded himself of plenty of times. Daisuke knew there was a reason they were best friends.

He also knew that the feeling of Ken's hand on his shoulder sent all kinds of thrills through him that he wasn't used to feeling and he didn't know if he should ask Ken to stop or just let it rest there for a while.

He had to keep up with Jun, though, or at least keep her in sight, so he couldn't enjoy the feeling as much as he genuinely wanted to.

The more they left the area he'd scouted out behind, the less comfortable Daisuke was. He kept his mouth shut and his eyes open. He almost wanted a small attack of some kind, something that would show Jun how dangerous things here could be.

_Funny, I never thought about this when I was the one rushing off into danger._ He wondered if this was what a parent felt like, or anyone who knew more about a situation than someone else did. The idea of his sister, even with Elecmon there, being in an actual battle sent chills all through him.

"Hey, I think I see something!" Jun gave him that much of a warning before she darted on ahead of them, as quick as if she were still a child herself. Daisuke stared for a few seconds before he started to move after her, only for Ken to pull him back.

"She's not in any real danger," Ken reassured him. "And if anything turns up -" He gave a significant look to where Elecmon followed his partner.

Daisuke glanced after them, then nodded. He didn't like it, but he knew Ken was right. Besides, this did give him time alone with Ken, and that was at least half the reason he'd asked the other along on this trip.

A minute or two passed before Daisuke completely realized that V-mon and Wormmon had gone ahead with Jun and Elecmon, leaving him and Ken alone. The clearing was too far behind them to go back and now that Jun was actually as on her own as someone could get in the Digital World with a partner, he didn't quite feel the same burning need to follow her every step.

Not with Ken there, looking at him, hints of confused nervousness in his violet eyes, ones that Daisuke knew were mirrored for himself. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know if he needed to say anything.

Ken's expression told him that he felt much the same. At least that was how Daisuke read it. The two of them stood staring at one another, and while it should've been awkward and uncomfortable, Daisuke didn't really think that it was. His hands reached out toward Ken, then he pulled them back, a little more unsure than he'd thought he was. Looking at Ken was all right. Touching Ken was another point altogether.

"Daisuke," Ken murmured, his voice layered with emotions Daisuke didn't think he'd ever heard before, at least not coming from Ken. He thought he'd heard a milder version coming from Jun on occasion, and himself a few times when he wanted to ask Hikari out. "I wanted to ask you something."

Everything in Daisuke's brain stopped working, with the exception of his jaw, which did a few jerky motions that conveyed absolutely nothing, not even a strangled squeak. Instead his eyes grew large and he knew that he wanted to say something but exactly what that might be, he had no idea.

And worst of all, he had no idea of why Ken was asking this in the first place. It could be something as innocent as what his favorite flavor of ice cream was - though Ken already knew that, of course – or something, anything else altogether. Daisuke wasn't together enough in this moment to actually think of what that might be.

"Are you very busy next weekend? I think there are some things we should talk about, and that's probably the soonest I'll have some free time."

Daisuke's brain didn't start working. If anything it actually slowed down further. What did happen was that he found his head nodding without asking permission from the rest of him. "Sure," he heard himself say, and wondered how his voice could work when every functioning brain cell he owned had taken a quick trip to the ocean all at the same time. "Sounds great."

He could talk without a brain. He wasn't sure how good of a trick that was, though it wasn't one that he'd heard a great many people doing, and he didn't want Jun to hear about it, because she'd tease him forever and ten days. Not to mention what some of the others would probably say.

So it was with a huge effort that he forced himself to react more like a functioning human being than anything else. He really wanted to ask what more Ken had in mind and if it had anything to do with the way looking at Ken and feeling Ken's fingers on him made him tingle all over. He thought it did and he really wanted to explore this, but now was neither the time nor the place. Not with Shihaimon lurking under every rock and Jun off trying to get herself into trouble by lifting up those rocks and poking whatever she could find under them with a pointy stick.

He'd just about remembered that Jun was doing exactly that right now and they should probably keep some kind of an eye on her to make certain whatever she poked didn't bite her face off when Jun's startled shriek filled the air. He and Ken barely took the time to exchange a pair of worried looks before streaking off through the woods to wherever it was she'd gotten herself into trouble.

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Shihaimon, Jikomon, and Jikomon's sister (mentioned last chapter) are all my own creations.


	8. Ambush

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 8: Ambush  
**Characters:** Chosen Children||**Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,701||story: 21,196  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.

* * *

Daisuke held his D-3 in a tight grip as he and Ken ran toward the source of Jun's shrieking. A thousand different reasons for that sound ran through his head, each of them worse than the last, and all of them circling around Shihaimon in some fashion. As bad as it was to fight some of the other Chosen, the idea of fighting against his own sister made his gorge rise and his heart want to stop beating.

"She's there!" Ken hissed, just loud enough for Daisuke to hear him, one slender hand pointing to the clearing ahead of them. Daisuke redoubled his speed and burst in there, the command to evolve one breath away from his lips.

Digimon did surround Jun and she did look nervous, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see any of Shihaimon's bands on the encircling Gazimon. Instead of murderous, they looked more annoyed than anything else.

He slowly turned toward Jun. "What's going on?" And he really hoped that he got a clear and intelligent answer.

"They startled me," Jun murmured, cheeks tingeing bright red. "I wasn't expecting to come out right in the middle of them."

Daisuke looked at the Gazimon, all of whom still had their heads tilted and claws tightly clenched. "Sorry about this," he apologized. "She's kind of new around here."

One of the Gazimon stepped forward. "Is she one of you, Chosen Child?"

Daisuke didn't think he really counted as a 'child', being sixteen, but he wasn't going to argue the point just now.

"Yeah. And she's my sister, too."

Jun glared at him for that, fists resting on her hips, head tilted forward. "You don't have to say _that_ like it's a bad thing. That's my job!"

Ken stepped forward, clearing his throat politely. "We'll be on our way now, since we know everything's all right. Sorry for bothering you."

While Ken hadn't been the Digimon Kaiser in years, he still had that air of authority when he wanted to, something Daisuke had done his best to help him acquire once more. Though in Daisuke's words "using it for the power of good, not evil". It certainly worked now, as the Gazimon backed off, grumbling a little, but nothing more.

Elecmon grumbled from where he stood defensively at Jun's side. "I could've taken them."

"I know you could," Jun told him warmly. "I didn't doubt you for a second."

Daisuke shook his head. "Some fights you don't have to fight, you know. What were you even doing?"

"I was just walking!" Jun declared, returning her glare to him. "I came off the trail and there they were!"

Daisuke held back a long sigh. "Well, let's get going, then. We're supposed to be getting you used to the Digital World. I suppose this counts for something?" He wasn't going to try to tell her they should go back home. The fit she'd throw wasn't worth it.

Even as they continued, something about the area struck Daisuke as off. He couldn't have put his finger on it, but it just wasn't the way that it should be, and that was _not_ usual.

Without knowing what was wrong, he would just have to keep an eye out for trouble. And he did that on a regular basis when in the Digital World anyway.

He took another look around, checked his mental map of the area, and turned toward Ken. "We're not that far from Piyomon's place, are we?"

"I don't think so," Ken replied after a moment of thought for himself. "Isn't Sora-san staying with her?"

Daisuke nodded, taking another quick look at Jun as they moved along the barely-marked trail. She had to push leaves and branches out of the way, but she didn't look upset by it. If anything, she looked absolutely thrilled to be here.

"Think we should drop by and say hello?" he asked. He knew there'd been some sort of vague tiff-like thing between Sora and Jun a few years earlier, when Sora and Yamato first started to date, but he had no idea if they'd ever cleared that up or not. Oh, well, they were all Chosen now, so they'd figure something out.

Ken nodded, a hint more caution in his eyes, but that didn't bother Daisuke. Ken was always more careful than he was. That was part of why they meshed so well, since he wasn't.

"Hey, Jun! We're going to go see a friend, come on!" He deliberately didn't tell her who they were going to see. If she _was_ still upset over the Yamato thing, then it would be a fun surprise. And if she wasn't… well, it still would be a fun surprise.

Daisuke knew that his sense of humor didn't always mesh with everyone else's, but that was fine by him, too.

* * *

Sora strolled along down the path quickly, watching where Piyomon fluttered overhead. If anything turned up along the way that would require evolution, then she would be ready for it. So far, today was one of the more peaceful days that they'd had since Shihaimon made her abrupt arrival into the Digital World. That suited Sora just fine. She didn't want any fighting getting in the way of Mimi's visit.

"How far to the portal?" she called up to her partner, who perched on the nearest tree limb and looked ahead and behind before answering.

"We're almost there," Piyomon reported. "We've made good time today."

Sora smiled; even just a few days in the Digital World, where things like busses and trains didn't exist, could get someone going faster if they wanted to get anywhere. If they'd really wanted to make _great_ time, then she would've flown with Birdramon. But that kind of thing she liked to hold off until there was an actual emergency for them to deal with, not just casual travel.

She hurried along a little more; there was no telling just when Mimi would arrive, and she wanted to be there before she did. While there wasn't much shopping to be done in this world, they could at least walk and talk and get caught up on each other's personal news.

_She looked really bad when I saw her at the hospital. I hope she's not coming down with anything._ That worried her; Mimi had already been taken everything that happened with Noriko, Michael, and Catherine hard, and now with Hikari out of it for whatever strange reason that was...well, Sora liked to be certain her friends were all well.

Piyomon perched on a branch, peered ahead, then looked backward. "We're there! And I don't think Mimi's arrived yet."

Sora hurried up her steps. The closer she got to the portal, however, the more she began to want to slow down. Something did not feel right in the air all of a sudden. She kept watching for anything, any sort of move that would mean someone was going to try to attack her, and nothing at all came.

She almost wished it would. She didn't like the way tension crackled in the air and sparked along her skin. Something was just not _right_.

Against her will, she slowed down just outside the band of trees that circled the clearing where the portal awaited. Instead of running, now she took one careful step at a time, watching every shadow with a hunter's caution.

"Sora?" Piyomon fluttered down near her. "Did you see something?"

Slowly she shook her head. "I don't know." She didn't know what else to say about it. If it ended up being her imagination, brought on by too much stress, then she didn't really want to let Piyomon know about it. And if there was something wrong, then she really didn't know what it was.

From the clearing came a familiar sound, then an equally familiar 'oof'.

"Sora?" Mimi called out. "Are you here?"

Sora closed her eyes and let out a brief breath. She didn't know if she were bothered by this or not. But at least Mimi was here, so on the chance that something turned up, then Palmon and Piyomon could fight it together.

"I'm here!" She stepped out of the tree circle and into the clearing, waving. She put in every effort she could to make certain that not a shred of her worry showed. Mimi hadn't come all of this way to get any stress put on her. Sora wanted to be certain that Mimi came away from here more relaxed than she arrived.

Mimi turned toward her, eyes tired but a smile on her lips. "You're late," she teased, tossing back a wave of (currently) dark gold hair. She hadn't given up her habit of dyeing her hair in any color that struck her fancy, though Mimi still thought she looked best with it pink. It just seemed Mimi's color.

"I was checking around for trouble," Sora told her. She didn't want to admit the real depths of her worry, but checking for trouble had become second nature to all of them. "All's clear, though."

Mimi smiled again. "Good. So, where are we going to go?"

"There's a lake over that way," Piyomon piped up, gesturing with one wing off to the south. "We could do some fishing?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Sora had always liked to fish and she suspected it would help to relax Mimi as well.

Mimi tilted her head to the side in thought. "Do you have anything we can fish with?"

"This is the Digital World," Sora reminded her. "All you really need is a line and a pole. And we can get those from anywhere." She'd done enough fishing during their first trip to know how it was done without any of the fancy equipment.

"All right, then, let's go!" Mimi started off in the direction Piyomon indicated, Palmon right beside her, Sora and Piyomon on the other side.

All the way to the lake, though, Sora still could feel that strange pressure, the strong and growing indication that something wasn't right, and it wasn't going to go away just because she wasn't specifically looking out for it anymore.

So far as she could tell, though, Mimi didn't seem to have that kind of feeling. The other woman just chattered and laughed about everything, telling her all about some of the antics of her classmates, and how one of them who'd been quite rude ended up with a Numemon Digimon partner.

"Well, Numemon aren't that bad," Sora said, trying to look on the bright side. It would help stop her from laughing, she hoped. "I'm not sure what they evolve to, but really, not that bad."

"I suppose not, but I'm just as glad that I don't have one." Mimi leaned over to run her fingers across the top of Palmon's head. "Aren't we, Palmon?"

"That's right!" Palmon extended her vines to toy with the top of Mimi's head as well. Sora tried hard not to laugh even more, but this time, failed far more miserably than she'd ever imagined.

They were in view of the lake by now, if not actually there yet, and Sora managed to get a hold of herself enough so that she could start looking around for any tree branches that would make a suitable fishing pole.

"How long can you stay?" she asked, eyeing one tree in particular to see if it had the kind of springiness that she needed.

"I'm clear for most of the day, actually." Mimi waved her D-Terminal for a moment. "But I set the alarm to tell me when I need to get back home. Mama and Papa know I'm here, but they want to make sure I'm home at a reasonable hour." She rolled her eyes a little at the last part, a light tinge of amusement flickering in her eyes.

"I don't think that will be a problem," Sora reassured her. She knew Mimi's parents, and no matter how old she got or how many times she helped to save the world, they still worried about her.

She kind of suspected the fact their daughter needed to help save the world on semi-regular occasions had something to do with it. She wondered if Mimi had ever told them that she'd been the one to raise an army against Piemon and what they would do if they ever found out.

It would be interesting to find out one day, though. She kind of looked forward to it.

"Sora." Mimi did not sound at all like herself with that. Sora looked up at once and the blood turned to icewater in her veins.

All around them stood Meramon, Dark Tyrannomon, and Monochromon, no less than five each, and some more than that. In front of them, where she could not be missed, stood Noriko, her partner next to her, already evolved to her adult level Unimon.

"Take them." Noriko declared. Her army surged toward Sora and Mimi, who stood back to back already, thoughts of fishing and fun vanishing.

"This is not going to be fun," Sora murmured, her grip on her Digivice tightening. Piyomon hopped closer to her.

"I'm ready whenever you are, Sora!"

Mimi threw Sora a quick smile. "Hey, there are worse ways to spend a trip than fighting alongside my best friend."

"And there are better ones too. We'll have one of those once we're done here."

Neither of them wanted to entertain the notion of what _could_ happen if everything went pear-shaped. Instead, both of them held up their Digivices.

"Piyomon, evolve to Birdramon!"

"Palmon, evolve to Togemon!"

Battles against Shihaimon's minions weren't like battles in the past. Her warriors would target the human partners as much as they would the Digimon. Sometimes even more so. So as soon as Birdramon and Togemon started fighting whichever Digimon ended up close enough to tackle, Sora and Mimi took off for the lake, counting on it as a place to stay under cover but within sight of the battle, just in case their partners needed to evolve again.

Sora ducked and dodged and wove through the trees, avoiding the path at all costs. The path would be a target. The path would be a very good way to get caught. Holy Shots from Noriko's Unimon flashed by her, and she swerved first one way, then the other, her heart beating faster and faster. This was not the kind of day that she'd expected to have.

Fruit trees grew scattered here, not all of their wares edible, but Sora reached for one of them as she darted along. It couldn't be eaten, but it could be thrown, and with her years of tennis and soccer, she had more than enough muscle to throw it well.

Noriko, mounted on Unimon's back, cried out as the fruit rind smashed into her arm. It wasn't close to a disabling wound, but it gave Sora another few precious seconds to get closer to safety. Birdramon soared overhead, shooting down attacks of her own in an attempt to keep Unimon away from her partner. The other Digimon in the army kept pace, firing whatever kind of ammunition or attack they had to distract the firey bird.

Sora kept on going, stumbled on a streak of moist sand as she burst out from the trees, and slammed face-first into the ground. She lay where she was, trying to catch her breath, her blood rushing in her ears, and she _knew_ it was too late, _knew_ that she was caught and there wasn't anything she could do about it. Noriko's Digimon kept Birdramon just far enough away so her partner couldn't get to her to get her out of there either.

She managed to flip herself around and sit up for a brief second before a shadow fell across her, and Noriko pressed a booted foot into her stomach.

Once, Noriko had been a sweet girl, who Sora would always think of as that small child under the influence of the Dark Spore. Now she gazed down at Sora with empty eyes and held up one of Shihaimon's bands.

"Welcome," was all she said, and reached for Sora's arm.

**To Be Continued**


	9. Stirring

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 9: Stirring  
**Characters:** Chosen Children||**Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,625||story: 23,821  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.

* * *

"Excuse me," Ken's very polite voice, the voice that he used only when he was absolutely furious and yet didn't want anyone to know it, interrupted Noriko as she began to bring the band down on Sora's arm. "But I don't think I'm going to let you do that."

Noriko's head snapped around, a venomous hiss slashing out between her lips. Neither Ken nor Stingmon looked all that impressed by her reaction. For that matter, neither did Jun or Elecmon where they stood next to him.

And while Noriko pulled her hand back, ready to either order Unimon to attack or try to put the band on Sora again, another hand came from behind her. Daisuke held her wrist firmly.

"Neither am I," he said, wrenching the band out of her hand quickly. "In fact, we're not going to let you hurt any of our friends, so it's probably a good idea for you to get out of here."

Noriko stepped quickly to Unimon's side, resting a hand on her partner's shoulders. "Do you think I'd betray my mistress so easily as that?"

"I think considering that you're extremely outnumbered and we're always looking for new ways to free all of you, it's probably a very good idea for you to leave," Ken said. "_We_ want you to be freed, but you don't want to be, or you think you don't, so why would you stick around here where we can get to you?"

Her brow furrowed as she tried to process this. All of the Chosen had noticed that the banded ones weren't always the quickest on the uptake. It varied from person to person, and Koushirou had a small theory that it depended on certain personality factors. In essence, the harder the band had to work to keep them under control, the less likely they were to be able to think in a coherent, cohesive fashion.

Which, so far as the Chosen knew or cared, meant that the real Noriko, their friend, was likely fighting her heart out somewhere in her own mind, and they would do anything they could to help her.

Sora scrambled to her feet as Noriko's boot moved off of her, hurrying over to Ken and Jun as fast as she could. Her heart pounded, blood racing through her veins as she tried to wrap her head around what had almost happened.

_Mimi? Where's Mimi?_ She looked around desperately, more concerned with her friend's safety than anything else at the moment, and relaxed when she saw Togemon and Mimi on the edge of the clearing. _Safe._ This wasn't at all what she'd had in mind for their visit.

Noriko shook her head suddenly and produced another band. "My orders are to take any of you that I can. It doesn't matter which." And now her attention focused completely on Ken.

"If I wasn't going to let you take Sora, then what in the world makes you think I'd let you take Ken?" Daisuke snapped, reaching for Noriko once again. This time she squirmed away from him, Unimon leaping closer, horn pointed directly at him.

"If you'd rather volunteer yourself, that would be acceptable," Noriko said, brushing her sleeve where he'd grabbed her. "Though I think my mistress's ally might be disappointed."

Every Chosen and partner in the area stared at her. "What are you talking about?" Jun asked cautiously, her D-3 held firmly in her hand. Ken didn't let her get too far ahead of him; Elecmon hadn't ever evolved beyond his Child form, and while they were all curious to see what his Adult was, no one wanted it under conditions this dangerous.

Noriko's smile held the ghost of Shihaimon's in it. "I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise." The hand that held the band shot forward, and all of them ducked to the side, not wanting to take any chances on who she might be aiming at.

Daisuke really did not like how a lot of the surrounding Digimon stared at him all of a sudden. It was the kind of look that made him feel like a cross between the lunch special and a piece of raw meat just waiting for some kind of a predator to come along and take a juicy bite out of. He shifted to the side cautiously, keeping an eye on XV-mon, in case Noriko tried anything on his partner. He didn't like playing it safe, but given what those bands could do, and had done, it was better than taking a chance that could end up being fatal.

Sora ducked behind the largest bush she could find and tried to think of something, anything, that any of them could do. _We need to either miraculously find a way to free Noriko and all of these Digimon or just get them all to leave._ So far as she knew, the odds on that second one were slightly better, if not by much. Normally it took much more of a fight for Shihaimon's forces to give up and leave. This had barely begun.

_If it's a fight they want, then it's a fight they're going to have._ She tilted her head up and unerringly caught Birdramon's gaze. A quick nod was all that was needed between the two of them, and her partner circled, wings taking her higher and higher.

Stingmon leaped into the air as well, while XV-mon and Togemon began to circle Noriko and Unimon on the ground. It was a good set up, two for the air and two for the ground. They couldn't really say they outnumbered Unimon, not with the small army that Noriko had with her, but if they could get Noriko to back off, the others would go with her.

They hoped. They all very much hoped.

"Meteor Wing!" A blaze of fire leaped forth from Birdramon's wings, shooting downward.

"Hell Squeeze!" Stingmon's kicks created blades of wind, fanning the fires of Bidramon's attack to even greater strength.

"X-Laser!" XV-mon's attack shot through the wind-tossed flames and came out even stronger on the other side.

"Pricky Bambam!" Togemon's fists pounded into Unimon's side a heartbeat before the joined attacks of the other three connected, sending the digital unicorn spinning and scrambling to get back upright.

Noriko spat out a few words that bid fair to scorch the air around her, taking quick steps over to her partner. That was something that didn't change; no matter what, Shihaimon's enslaved Chosen still cared about their partners.

"We can do a lot worse than that," Ken reminded her, hand resting now in Stingmon's side. "It's better for everyone if you just leave."

Noriko shook her head, not giving any excuses or reasons, but helping Unimon to stand up, gentle hands brushing across the glistening mane. "We are going to win." There was not a shred of doubt in her voice, nothing to indicate she believed any other outcome possible.

Sora let her head slide down just a little. She didn't want to give up. There had to be something else that they could do, but she had no idea of what it was. Evolving to their Perfect levels was still a possibility, but that ran the risk of actually hurting Unimon or Noriko on a permanent basis.

_We might have to do it._ It left a very sour taste in her mouth to even think it, but it remained a fact.

Again Noriko held a Dark Band between her fingers, and her gaze jumped from Sora to Mimi to Ken to Daisuke and their assembled partners. "One of you is going to come back with me. You could always choose from amongst yourselves if you like."

"No," Mimi spoke up, shaking her head. "None of us are going to go back with you. We'd rather you came back with us anyway."

"And that won't happen either," Noriko countered. "I belong to my mistress and I have no reason to leave."

As she moved to face Mimi, her sleeve slid up a little, revealing the Dark Band on her own arm. Sora stared at it, a flame of hate burning at the sight of it.

_We've tried everything to get those things off and nothing works._ The few times they'd been able to grab one off the field when it failed to capture one of them, they'd only learned of what it could do. Nothing Koushirou, Ken, or Miyako could come up with could produce a way to destroy it, let alone negate its effects.

An odd sort of fire flickered and burned in her hands at she continued to stare at it. The absolute burning desire to _touch_ that band flamed within her and Sora's lips twisted in disgust. _What is wrong with me?_ They needed to end this soon so she could find somewhere to clear her head, before something even more terrible happened.

Almost as if Noriko could read her mind, the brainwashed Chosen whipped around, and with speed unlike any they'd seen before, threw the Band at Daisuke.

Daisuke ducked out of the way, scrambling backwards. Only when they heard Noriko's laugh did they realize what that really was: a feint, as she tackled Sora yet again.

"How many of those things does she have?" Daisuke muttered, kept back from going to help by Unimon's defensive horn. Other Digimon hemmed Ken, Jun, and Mimi away, while Noriko pressed Sora harder against the ground.

Sora struggled, trying hard to push Noriko away from her, but the angle didn't give her the kind of leverage that she needed, and Noriko kept the arm that wasn't holding the Band pressed against her throat, cutting off her air and limiting her ability to do anything.

Birdramon circled above; both of them knew what would happen if that Band actually wrapped around Sora. Noriko was too close to Sora for Birdramon to use any of her attacks, even if she'd wanted to do so against a human.

Black spots danced before Sora's eyes and she couldn't get in enough air to do anything at all. She slumped back against the ground; not giving up, but not able to move. She could feel Noriko shifting now, not letting her up and certainly not letting her breathe, but getting into a better position for something.

Sora had a very good idea she knew what that was.

Noriko brought the Band down, wrapping it firmly against Sora's arm. Tiny pinpricks dug into Sora's skin and she threw her head back, howling in pain she hadn't expected or been prepared for. She panted and squirmed, feeling something _dark_ moving inside of her, racing along her blood and scrambling for parts of her mind that had always been private and hers alone.

_No. No. No!_ She couldn't let this happen. Every part of her body, mind, and soul screamed against it. But the sensation, whatever it was, only grew stronger, touching on places she'd never dreamed could exist, stirring up the desire to kneel before someone, to never have to worry about thinking again, because someone else was going to do it for her.

"No!" Denial that echoed in her mind found voice, and she thrashed even harder, knocking Noriko off of her and flipping to brace against the ground on her hands and knees.

They'd never seen this happen with anyone else. Everyone they'd seen taken by the Bands only stiffened a little, then accepted Shihaimon as their mistress. Something was not right.

"Mistress?" Noriko murmured the word quietly, as confused as any of the free-willed Chosen about all of this.

A dark aura surrounded Sora. Up above, Birdramon cried out, a sound that none of them had ever heard before, a mix of pride and passion and fear.

And within Sora, a war raged that had never been fought in that world or any other.

* * *

A form faced her that was her own, wrapped in darkness and enshrouded in obedience. Sora stared into those dim eyes and shook her head. Here the pain didn't exist. Here there was only a choice to make, a path to follow, a destiny to claim.

"Shihaimon is my mistress," the other said, voice low and dull and devoid of emotion. "Let me free to serve her."

Sora held her head up high. "No. You don't exist. You're just what I could be if I stop fighting." She didn't need to think to know that. It rang in her blood and in her heart. "And I'm never going to stop fighting."

"Shihaimon is my mistress." The tone didn't change. Sora shook her head.

"No." That one single word said everything she needed to say about the subject.

Her hands caught fire, a warm glow of pure energy that Sora had never seen or felt before. Even so, it seemed as familiar to her as her own reflection. She stared down at her hands in wonder.

"What is this?"

She flexed her fingers and images came into her mind, images of her touching a Band, of _something happening_ that she could not be certain of, but every instinct within her, including those freshly awakened, told her that this was something she had to do regardless of if she knew why.

Words came to her mind, words that echoed around and settled into her blood and bone and heart and soul. Words that needed only being spoken in order to take effect.

The tips of Sora's fingers brushed against the shadow that wished to become her, that existed only to serve Shihaimon. The shadow of her that she would never allow to exist, because doing so meant her friends would be in danger, and her partner would be drawn into the web of evil as well. Sora could not allow that. She would not.

She whispered those two words and the energy flared out from her fingers, wrapping all around that which never was meant to be and would not be. In a breath of effort, it vanished and was no more.

Sora breathed in and closed her eyes. Most of her still didn't understand this. But she still knew what to do. That had taken care of the inner problem. And now for the outer one.

* * *

No one was more surprised than Noriko when the aura around Sora vanished without warning and her eyes flew open. She stumbled back, righting herself a heartbeat later, and let a quick dart of a smile trace her features.

"Are you ready to come and serve my mistress, Takenouchi Sora?" Noriko began to take a step forward, confident that the Band had done its work. Never before had it failed once wrapped around a person, after all. She saw no reason now would be different. Her lady would rule all the worlds and she, and the others, would be instrumental in bringing that about.

Sora pulled herself to her feet and turned to face them all. Noriko could see the pale fear written across everyone else's face. Soon they'd all know the bliss of serving her lady. This was only the beginning.

"Sora?" Mimi took a small step forward, flickers of rage beginning to spark in her eyes. "Sora, are you all right?"

Sora looked down at the Band, and then back toward Noriko, not acting as if she'd heard Mimi at all. "I don't think so." She rested one hand on the device, digging her fingers underneath it until they met on the other side. A pure white glow surrounded her hand and two words fell from her lips.

"Celestial Dance!" The glow shot from her palm toward the band itself, and accompanied by sparks, the Band collapsed into shards that rained down on the ground, completely broken beyond repair.

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** All of the events of Digimon Adventure &amp; Digimon Adventure 02 occured in this story, up until the point of Oikawa's death. The epilogue has not and will not happen. So, Sora and Yamato did start dating around Christmas of 2002. Are they still dating? I don't know. They haven't told me yet. So until they do, I'm not going to specify one way or the other.

Also, this is only the first of four stories involving the breeds. Each story centers around one level of evolution. In this case, the Adult/Champion level. The stronger the breed, the later their story comes. Not to mention, there is all kinds of plot, drama, characterization, and world-building I'm doing with this. So, be patient. It'll all come eventually.


	10. Awakening

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 10: Awakening  
**Characters:** Chosen Children||**Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,515||story: 26,336  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.

* * *

Ever since their fight against Shihaimon began, nothing the Chosen tried had been able to properly break one of those bands. They weren't invulnerable by any means, but the trick lay in breaking them _without_ the one it was attached to dying almost immediately afterward. And no one who had one on them could ever break one, or do anything but scream until the band's effect took hold.

Now Sora brushed the dust from the band off of her arm and turned toward Noriko. There was a look in her eyes unlike anything any of the watchers could remember seeing, something cool and distant, as if Sora herself wasn't exactly there anymore.

"Noriko," she said, reaching one hand outward. The enslaved girl stumbled backwards, shaking her head.

"No. You won't take me from her." Noriko didn't waste another word, but leaped onto Unimon's back and urged her partner into the air. In a matter of moments, she and the entire army that had been brought with her vanished without a trace.

Silence hung in the clearing afterward. Daisuke broke with the question that rang in everyone's mind.

"What in the hell just happened?"

With that question, Sora stumbled a little, as if her legs had suddenly forgotten how to hold her. She looked upward at them, then higher up, and Birdramon landed beside her, wrapping a wing around her partner protectively.

"I think we should get to Koushirou," Ken said, his D-3 in hand. "We might have just found out what Gennai's message meant."

Sora nodded; her voice didn't feel like working at the moment. Nothing about her did. Every particle of her body ached and thrummed, and she only half-way remembered what had happened in the first place. What shone clear and unchanged in her mind was the way that power flowed through her and the feeling of how good it was to use it at long last.

What that could mean, when she hadn't even known it existed until five minutes ago, baffled her as much as anything in her entire life had since the day she'd gone to a camp and ended up saving two worlds.

One by one the group plodded back down the trail to where Mimi had arrived; that was the closest gateway out of there. Everyone except Sora kept their attention on what was going on around them, and Birdramon watched her back for her. Sora couldn't seem to put two thoughts together coherently and if she hadn't been so very exhausted, the fact she was so tired would've worried her.

Birdramon nudged her carefully, making certain she didn't wander off the trail. "You'll feel better once you eat," the Adult Digimon told her softly. "Everyone feels like that the first time." There was a kind of wonder in her tone that made Sora bring up her head despite how tired she was.

"What do you mean?" She'd constructed a coherent sentence. She was very proud of herself for that.

"The first time they evolve. Well, you didn't evolve but you used your power, and that's close enough." Birdramon shrugged and Sora found herself blinking, trying to work through all of that.

"You know what happened?" Sora couldn't find it in her to be angry, but she couldn't guess right now if that was because this was her partner and she couldn't be angry at her, or if she was just too tired right now.

Birdramon didn't reply at once. When she did, it was with a slight shrug. "I don't know why, but you used a Digimon power. And you kind of smell like a Digimon right now. A Digimon and a human, all mixed up. You didn't smell like that this morning, though."

Sora had no idea at all of what to do what her partner had just told her. She rubbed her forehead and shook her head altogether. If eating and sleeping would help her, then she'd do it, and think about all of this then.

* * *

Noriko knew that her mistress planned a trip to hunt down powerful Digimon soon, but not when Shihaimon planned to start it. Her heart racing in fear and watching every direction for any sign of the Chosen, she searched for her mistress.

There! The trip must've begun already. That wasn't so surprising; part of her reason for attacking had been to distract the Chosen from her lady's moves. But now she sent Unimon down toward the dark Digimon, and the moment her partner's hooves hit the ground, Noriko all but fell off and collapsed to her knees before Shihaimon.

"Noriko?" Shihaimon frowned, one elegantly carved eyebrow raised the merest fraction. "What happened? Did your battle go badly?"

"Mistress, the battle was lost, but not due to overwhelming numbers or better strategy on their part. We almost had it won." She would've been so proud to have brought Sora before her mistress! It would've been wonderful!

"And?" Shihaimon waited. That was one of the perks of serving her; she never grew angry without just cause. Noriko swallowed and spoke.

"I had the Band on her. I think it was working. Then she destroyed it. I don't know how." Noriko shook her head; that baffled her. "There was something _different_ about her. She touched it and she said something and then it just was _gone_."

Shihaimon remained silent for a few moments, brow furrowed. "What did she say?"

Noriko racked her brain; she'd been too busy being absolutely confused at the time to take mental notes. But then it clicked in her mind.

"Celestial Dance." She scraped her brain for more. "It was pure white light. That was all that I could see, at least."

"A Digimon's attack," Shihaimon murmured, gloved fingers flexing in thought. She gestured for Noriko and Unimon to join the small party. "I'll deal with this later. If you remember anything else, I want to know about it." There was a faint hint in her voice that Noriko had best remember _something_. Noriko nodded quickly, falling into place, and set herself to thinking. She had failed her mistress once today. It would not happen again.

* * *

A little fiddling by Ken reset the exit of the portal to Koushirou's laptop, once a quick e-mail alerted the Chosen of Knowledge to their issue. He stood by, waiting, as soon as the last of them arrived in his room, eyes going right to Sora.

"How do you feel?" he asked, stepping over to her. "Do you need anything?"

"I could really use something to eat. And a nap." She shook her head at that last part, though. "I think the nap can wait until we find out what's going on."

Each one of them had a slowly growing suspicion on just what it was, though it wasn't something that any of them wanted to talk about. Sora settled down on the nearest chair, while Koushirou ducked into the kitchen to grab some snacks, and everyone else kept quiet, waiting to see what could happen next.

The quiet clacking of computer keys reminded Sora of many days spent in the Digital World when they were children. Everything seemed so simple then, even when Digimon of every stripe wanted to kill them. They had their partners; nothing could harm them then. They just needed to stay out of the way and it would all be all right.

Now something that their partners couldn't protect them from hovered like an unstoppable avalanche over their heads.

Koushirou turned his laptop so that it faced her. Sora tensed, hands clenching in her lap.

"Based off what Gennai said and what you've all told me, I'm going to use this upgraded Digimon Analyzer," Koushirou said, looking at her as he did. "I think that is our best hope of finding the answers."

Sora nodded. She wanted those answers as much as anyone else did, if not more so. Let the avalanche fall where it would.

Koushirou clicked one of the keys and Sora could feel the tension rising. His eyes focused on the screen, slowly widening. He put the laptop back on his deck, tilted away from them all, before he touched another key.

Now the familiar voice of the Analyzer spoke. "Aikoumon, Adult Level half-human, half-Digimon crossbreed. Her attacks include Celestial Dance and Bright Wind." There was a brief pause, little more than a second or two. "Aikoumon is the daughter of Takenouchi Toshiko and Devimon. The precise records beyond this information are unknown."

Blood drained from Sora's face at the words. She couldn't imagine doubting them, no matter how much she wanted to. She'd already seen the effect of the power that coursed through her veins, and Birdramon had told her that her scent was partially digital now. The other Digimon hadn't argued over this, though she knew they'd heard.

The laptop beeped again and Koushirou did something. She was too busy trying to think clearly, or at all, to know what, until he spoke.

"It's a second message from Gennai." He swallowed and began to read it out loud.

"_Chosen Children, now that you've used this new Digimon Analyzer to scan the first one of you, I can tell you this much: this is what I spoke of in my last message. Certain of you are part Digimon, or perhaps more in certain cases. Again, I cannot tell you which ones._

"Your power slept all this time, awaiting the proper maturation of your bodies to be able to deal with that power. For that reason, you Awakened first, Sora. Each one of you who Awakens will be more powerful than the last. But as always, you work best as a team, and you must not forget that. This power will not override that. You simply know more about yourselves than you did before.

"You will find out more in due course. I will see you again. Take care. Gennai.

"

Silence fell throughout the room. Sora stared down at her hands, wondering when she'd see them glow with power again, and what else she might be able to do, and why had any of this happened, and her father was _Takenouchi Haruhiko_ and she didn't care what the computer said or what Gennai said, she knew who she was!

She got to her feet, Piyomon beside her. "I'm going home." There wasn't anything else she wanted to say or do right now aside from wrap her arms around both of her parents.

Did they know? How could they have known? How could they have _not_ known?

No one stopped her on her way out. Piyomon stayed beside her. She trembled every step of the way, her mind tossed to the winds. Piyomon guided her now and then, as she had in the Digital World, nudging her the way that she needed to go.

"Piyomon," she murmured halfway through the streets, streets crowded with people who had no idea of what it was that walked among them. Some of them had partners of their own. Why couldn't this have been one of them? Why couldn't Devimon have… her mother have…

She didn't know what, she just wished it had been someone who wasn't her.

"You're still my friend, Sora," Piyomon answered a question Sora hadn't even wanted to ask or think about. "You'll always be my best friend."

Stepping to the side to get out of the flow of traffic, Sora bent down and held her partner. She could tell she was shaking fit to make her teeth rattle together and she didn't care.

"Thank you, Piyomon," she murmured, closing her eyes tightly. Maybe if she kept them closed long enough, she would fall asleep and find herself somewhere else, where this hadn't happened, and when she woke up, it wouldn't have happened at all.

_Devimon. Your father is Devimon._ The words rang harshly in her mind and she could feel sharp, angry tears wanting to pour down her cheeks. Slowly she shook her head one more time, swallowing the tears with all of her strength. If she cried, she wouldn't do it here, where anyone could see her. She had a room and a door she could lock and pillows she could bury herself under and it would be so much better there.

She pulled herself back up and wiped at her eyes, where a few disobedient tears had managed to sneak their way down. If anyone asked, she would tell them that she'd had some bad news about a relative.

Such as the fact he'd tried to kill them all.

But if anyone didn't ask, she wouldn't say anything at all. This was Chosen business. And no matter what, she was still a Chosen.

Head held high, she started back toward home, and wondered exactly how to talk about this to her parents.

* * *

"We need to tell the others," Koushirou said, his eyes resting a little more on the laptop screen where Gennai's message remained than on the rest of his friends. "There are still six others of us who are..." He hesitated, not certain of what word he should use here.

Mimi's eyes hadn't left the door Sora had passed through less than five minutes earlier. She jerked herself to her feet and started out herself.

"You guys can do that. I'm going to go talk to Sora." She didn't wait for any kind of reply, but hurried out, Palmon hot on her heels. The sound of the apartment door closing came only a few seconds later.

Daisuke, Ken, and Jun all exchanged looks with one another. Daisuke finally shook his head. "All right, who calls who? And what do you think the chances are of any of us being...uh… like that?"

"Given that there are six more and eleven of us?" Koushirou gave Daisuke his best speculative look. "I would say extremely high. Two or more of us right in this room could be."

Daisuke rubbed the back of his head, staring from Ken to Koushirou. "That's going to be weird. I wonder who else it could be… I mean, aside from Devimon. And Sora."

Jun grinned at her brother, eyes sparking with the typical Motomiya mischief. "Don't worry about it. Even if you turn out to be part bug eyed monster, I'll still love you, jerk. It would just prove me right all those times when I swore you were a monster to Mom and Dad. And they never would believe me."

Daisuke just rolled his eyes, though Ken thought he saw a flicker of something deep in them that he didn't completely understand. He made a note to talk to him about it as soon as he could. As soon as they weren't trying to figure out who among them could be part Digimon.

Koushirou cleared his throat politely. "I'll send everyone an e-mail about what's going on. We should all watch ourselves carefully as well. Gennai said that the more powerful ones would Awaken later but he didn't say how much longer 'later' would be. It could be hours, days, or weeks. The more we watch, the better."

**To Be Continued**


	11. Family

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Digimon Adventure 02  
**Series:** In Our Veins #1  
**Title:** Adulthood Issues: Chapter 11: Family  
**Characters:** Chosen Children||**Romance:** Ken x Daisuke  
**Word Count:** chapter: 2,630||story: 28,966  
**Genre:** Drama, Adventure||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Written for Diversity Writing, section L, #12, a multichap that is in a canon setting but not in complete agreement with canon.  
**Summary:** They thought they knew everything about their families. About their past. About who they were. But with the advent of a new enemy, the Chosen Children are going to learn that they don't know as much as they think they do.

* * *

Toshiko accepted a cup of tea from her husband, offering him a warm smile in return. They didn't get nearly enough time to spend together, she thought, not with how his job took him to so many different places around the world. So being able to do this, especially with their anniversary just past, brought a warm glow to her heart.

"How has Sora been lately?" Haruhiko asked, taking his own cup of tea and staring into it for a few moments before sipping slowly. "She left here so fast I hardly had a chance to say anything to her."

Toshiko sighed, her shoulders slumping a little. "I believe she's all right. She hasn't talked to me very much lately, though. I know she and her friends have been having some kind of trouble in the Digital World, though." The thought of that still sent a chill all through her. She knew that most Digimon were kind and caring, or at the very least dismissive of humans. The thought of those who weren't chasing after her daughter kept her up at nights more often than she wanted to admit.

"So I've heard," Haruhiko agreed. "No one would really give me any details on it, though."

Toshiko managed a small smile. She didn't really feel like smiling, but she did it anyway. "You know how they are. They want to protect us."

"I thought that was our job," her husband replied, the corners of his mouth turning upward. She chuckled at that.

"They're growing up so much more than I ever imagined they would." Her fingers tightened on her teacup, a cold hand of fear resting on her throat. "But..."

Haruhiko rested one hand on her own. "I know what you're worried about." Of course he did. He knew even more about the Digital World than she did. Not as much as Sora or the other Chosen, who lived there at least half of their time, but enough. Enough to know why she worried over her daughter.

"He said it would happen one day. He just didn't know when. And with how she's been acting lately, I'm scared that it's started." Toshiko whispered the words as if she were afraid to say them out loud would make them come true. She knew that was silly. They would come true regardless of how loudly she spoke them. It was as inevitable as sunrise.

A noise scrabbled at the door. Both of them looked up, a hint more tense than many people might've been. But when one lived and worked with Digimon, tension became a way of life.

The locks were unlocked and the door swung open. Sora stood there, her eyes red, her shoulders shaking, and it was only because Piyomon nudged her that she came all the way inside. Piyomon closed the door behind the two of them and Sora fumbled the locks shut again, not looking at the two adults until she'd done so.

"Mom," she murmured, still not raising her head. "D-dad..."

Toshiko rushed over to her without hesitating for a moment, wrapping her arms around her daughter. "What happened? Don't try to tell me nothing. Are your friends all right?"

"They're fine," Piyomon answered for Sora, who didn't seem quite able to form any other words at the moment. "But we found out – Sora found out something that you need to know."

Sora's arms tightened around her mother, yet she still didn't look up. "I love you, mom. No matter what, I love you. _Both_ of you." Now she tilted her head back and Toshiko and Haruhiko could see the tear stains on her cheeks.

Toshiko needed nothing else to confirm her own fears. She sighed and tugged Sora over to the couch, Haruhiko following them. He was the one who spoke up first now.

"How did it happen?"

Sora closed her eyes and caught a deep gulping breath before she answered. "The evil Digimon we've been fighting, the one who has some of the other Chosen enslaved… one of them, Noriko, tried to do that to me. Only I _stopped it_. I used… I used..."

"You used a Digimon attack," Toshiko murmured quietly. "And you found out that you're half-Virus Digimon."

Sora's head snapped back, eyes flying open. She stared at her mother, lips trembling. "You… you knew?"

"Of course." Toshiko knew this wasn't going to be easy for Sora to hear. "I've always known, Sora."

Her daughter could only stare. Piyomon landed on the table before them and watched both adults.

"How did you know? I didn't think adults knew about the Digital World before we met Sora and the others."

Haruhiko coughed for a moment. "I've researched the Digital World for years, remember. There are thin places in between worlds, where people from one can slip into another."

"That's what happened to me," Toshiko said, her eyes downcast. "I was just out for a walk when I was suddenly somewhere else. A place I didn't recognize: a very beautiful island."

"File Island," Sora murmured, and Toshiko nodded. "And you… met him? Saw him?"

None of them seemed to want to say his name. That was fine with Toshiko. She nodded yet again before going onward.

"I met him. He didn't look like what he did when you met him. Not then, anyway." Toshiko's throat closed up in memory. "He looked beautiful. An illusion, that was all it was. A disguise so I wouldn't run away." Why he hadn't wanted her to run she didn't know. And since he was gone, she doubted she ever would.

Sora's grip around her mother tightened. Toshiko hadn't finished, though. "I stayed there two months. At least, two months for time there."

"Did he...you..." Sora struggled to find words. Toshiko took pity on her when they didn't seem to come.

"I didn't know what he really looked like or anything about what he was really like. All I knew was that I was lost, scared, and he helped me. He gave me a place to stay and promised he would help me find a way back to my own world." Her eyes hardened in memory. "He lied about that, though. I didn't find out until later, around the time I found out I was expecting. I wanted to go back even more when I knew. But he started to come up with more and more excuses on why he couldn't do anything, on why no one could send me back.

"I decided that I would find a way back on my own. I left his palace and started searching. I'd been looking for days when I ran across an old man. He was the only other human I'd ever seen there." Toshiko shook her head and started to say his name, when Sora beat her to it.

"Gennai!"

"That's right," Toshiko said, nodding. Somehow, she didn't think she should be that surprised. "He told me that he knew about the child and that she would be very special one day." Her lips curved. "Yes, he knew you were going to be a girl even then. I don't know how. But he offered a way back home and the only price was that I couldn't tell you anything about the Digital World. He said you'd have to find out on your own, but it might take a long time."

Sora swallowed and nodded a little. "I don't think… I don't think he knew that there would be Chosen Children then. So I might never have known." She didn't look as if that prospect bothered her a great deal right now.

Piyomon rested one pink wing on Sora's shoulder. "I'm glad that you do, though."

Sora reached over to run her fingers over Piyomon's wing and nodded, hints of sorrow still in her expression, though. Then she looked back at her mother. "What happened then?"

"He sent me back." Her lips curved upward and she glanced toward Haruhiko. "And I landed right in front of someone."

Haruhiko smiled at the memory. "I was doing some early research then. I barely knew anything about the Digital World and I was looking into mysterious disappearances. Of which your mother wasn't one, but I was very glad to see her _appear_ in front of me."

"And as I'm sure you found out, time then flowed differently. I'd been gone two months, but it was still the same time I'd left. And I was still pregnant."

Sora nodded, though Toshiko wasn't quite certain if her daughter understood it all just yet. If all of this had happened today, then everything was being thrown at her far too quickly for anyone to adjust.

"You should get some rest. I think you've had a very long day," Toshiko suggested. There was so much else she wanted to tell Sora, but finding the words would take time, and making certain Sora was ready to hear it would take even _more_ time.

Slowly Sora did get to her feet, though. She looked from one of them to the other, then threw her arms around Haruhiko's neck. "You're my father," she said, voice strong and full of conviction. "You're the only one I want. Or need."

Haruhiko wrapped his arms around her. "And you're my daughter."

* * *

Shihaimon tilted her head back to examine the cliffs that rose high overhead. There, according to all the tales she'd heard, nested one of the most powerful Digimon that this world had ever seen: Hououmon, the all-mighty phoenix.

_I'll need his power on my side to defeat those Chosen, now that they can take my slaves away from me._ Shihaimon didn't like the idea of losing the army that she'd worked so hard to gather, especially not to something as ridiculous as what she was presented with now.

A human-Digimon crossbreed. That was the only thing it could be. Only one of those would be strong enough, even at such a young age, to shatter her power.

"Are you certain this is who you want to go after?" In a whisper of soft wings, Jikomon settled down beside her. He folded his wings up close, reaching over to tap at one shoulder. "And when are you going to bring me my servant? I need someone to brush out my wings for me."

"Patience, Jikomon," Shihaimon said, choosing her words with care. As annoying as he was, he still remained a valuable asset and she would pay his price. "Something unexpected has turned up."

Jikomon wiggled out a loose feather and stared at it balefully before he tucked it away. "And what might that be?"

Shihaimon considered before she answered. She did not like to give out information casually, but this could end up being important. "One of the Chosen's power has awakened."

"Really." From the quick, teasing curve of his lips, he either wasn't surprised or made a point not to look surprised even if he was. "Which one of them was it?"

"The original Chosen of Love."

"Takenouchi Sora." Jikomon spoke her name with confidence. "What else do you know?"

_More than you ever will, you vain peacock._ "Of her? Very little. She's partnered to a Piyomon and has been seen on occasion with the Chosen of Friendship."

Jikomon nodded, folding his hands to rest his chin on them. "Perhaps I'll take a look at her. See if I can tell whose get she is."

_Good. Maybe you'll be useful for once._ Shihaimon only nodded, still moving along toward the mountains. Her warriors and slaves marched behind her, all of them eager to do battle for her cause. She'd gone to _such_ lengths to gather each and every one of them, choosing them for their skill in combat, their strength, or whatever other quality they had that would make them useful to her.

Her eyes narrowed as she moved along, recalling another slave recently acquired. That one might be very useful when it came to dealing with this new turn of events around the Chosen of Love.

Once she had hold of Hououmon, she would see to it that her slave brought the Takenouchi girl to her. One way or another, she would either own the half-breed or would destroy her. She did not especially care which outcome she achieved, so long as that power could not be turned against her.

* * *

Jikomon strolled along, his attention only partially on which way Shihaimon and her people were going. He hadn't even made up his mind completely on if he wanted to take part in this mad strike against one of the most powerful Digimon in the entire Digital World. He'd heard even Piemon walked softly around Hououmon. It wasn't a thing he'd heard himself, especially as he'd never met Piemon face to face, but rumors had a way of going around.

_Yes, and rumors also said that Piemon and Vamdemon bedded one another on a regular basis._ He doubted that himself. Why would either of them want each other when someone as beautiful as he was existed?

But something far more interesting than their love lives, whatever they'd been, now called to his attention. There had always been rumors of Digimon born in ways aside from the Village of Beginnings, but no one could ever truly pin down one who actually had been. At least not whose tale could be believed.

His eyes narrowed. _Perhaps I should call on her and see what she has to say about this._ He didn't like trying to talk to her, since he considered it a miracle if she kept to the same line of thought from the beginning of a sentence to the end, but perhaps it would be useful. He'd lose nothing he couldn't regain by having some good wine afterward.

"I'll see you around, Shihaimon," he said, making his decision and spreading his wings. "Do let me know how your little escapade here turns out. It might be good for a laugh or two. If you survive it."

He didn't wait for an answer, but launched himself into the air, laughing all the way. He could see Shihaimon staring up at him, raw hatred in her eyes, and laughed even more. Today was a good day after all.

* * *

Soft lips curled into a gentle smile as she brushed the tips of her fingers across the mirror before her. At once it shimmered, filled with milk-white, and then cleared to reveal Takenouchi Sora, Aikoumon, curled up on her bed, Piyomon nestled in next to her.

_So you've awakened at long last._ She'd waited so long for all of this to finally come about. Even she hadn't known when it would be, but now that it had, she could see many things much more clearly.

Her mirror fogged again and this time when it cleared, the images of all the others who bore the blood of Digimon appeared there. Their names rang strongly in her mind, and she wished she could do something to help them.

_This is something they must learn to deal with given their own strength._ That didn't mean she liked it. But they would find the way through, and come out stronger than before because of it.

She knew them all. Aikoumon and Jitsumon, Oushimon and Chiguumon, Kipponmon and Jinshinmon…

Her fingers rested on the last of them. The one who bore no name. Her eyes darkened at the thought of this one most of all. _You'll find your way out from under his shadow, child. I believe in you. And better, you believe in yourself._

Chiemon banished the images with a wave of one hand. Her brother would soon do something very stupid, she thought, and she wanted to watch it burn around him. Good entertainment was hard to find, even for her.

**To Be Continued**


End file.
